Derylo-Marczewska Anna, Swiatkowski Andrzej, Trykowski Grzegorz, Biniak Stanislaw
Institute of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Chemistry, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, M. Curie-Sklodowska Sq. 3, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.
Institute of Chemistry, Military University of Technology, Kaliskiego 2, 00-908 Warsaw, Poland.
Molecules. 2025 Sep 19;30(18):3810. doi: 10.3390/molecules30183810.
Activated carbon F-400 was modified by using different oxidation agents: nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and ozone. The influence of the type of carbon surface groups on adsorption effectiveness towards selected aromatic compounds was analyzed. The commercial carbon F-400 was deashed and modified, and the obtained materials were characterized by using different techniques to determine their textural, thermal, morphological, and surface properties: low-temperature adsorption/desorption isotherms of nitrogen, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Boehm titration, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The adsorption properties towards four aromatic compounds, i.e., toluene, 4-nitrotoluene, nitrobenzene, and 4-nitrobenzoic acid, were evaluated based on isotherm measurements. Adsorption equilibrium data were analyzed by applying the generalized Langmuir isotherm. The influence of carbon surface groups and adsorbate functional groups in interaction mechanisms was discussed. It was found there was a strong effect of oxidation on adsorption efficiency. The adsorption capacity of modified activated carbon F-400 strongly depends on the type of oxidant used, e.g., in the case of toluene, the use of ozone as an oxidant gives a sorption capacity of 5.51 mmol/g, and of nitric acid-4.20 mmol/g.
