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. 2024 Apr 16;10(9):e29645.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29645. eCollection 2024 May 15.

Porous activated carbons derived from waste Moroccan pine cones for high-performance adsorption of bisphenol A from water

Yassine Jari  1 , Nicolas Roche  1   2 , Mohamed Chaker Necibi  1 , Fatima Zahra Falil  3 , Saida Tayibi  4 , Karim Lyamlouli  4 , Abdelghani Chehbouni  1   5 , Bouchaib Gourich  1   3
Affiliations

Porous activated carbons derived from waste Moroccan pine cones for high-performance adsorption of bisphenol A from water

Yassine Jari et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Porous-activated carbons (ACs) derived from Moroccan pine cones (PC) were synthesised by a two step-chemical activation/carbonisation method using phosphoric acid (PC-H) and zinc chloride (PC-Z) as activating agents and used for the adsorption of bisphenol A (BPA) from water. Several techniques (TGA/DTA, FT-IR, XRD, SEM and BET) were used to determine the surface area and pore characterisation and variations during the preparation of the adsorbents. The modification significantly increased the surface area of both ACs, resulting in values of 1369.03 m2 g-1 and 1018.86 m2 g-1 for PC-H and PC-Z, respectively. Subsequent adsorption tests were carried out, varying parameters including adsorbent dosage, pH, initial BPA concentration, and contact time. Therefore, the highest adsorption capacity was observed when the BPA molecules were in their neutral form. High pH values were found to be unfavourable for the removal of bisphenol A from water. The results showed that BPA adsorption kinetics and isotherms followed pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models. Thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic. Besides, the regeneration of spent adsorbents demonstrated their reusability. The adsorption mechanisms can be attributed to physical adsorption, hydrogen bonds, electrostatic forces, hydrophobic interactions, and π-π intermolecular forces.

Keywords: Adsorption-desorption; Bisphenol A; Pine cones; Porous activated carbon; Regeneration; Water.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic preparation process of adsorbents for BPA removal.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
TG and DTA curves of pine cone (in air, 10 °C min−1).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
FTIR spectra of PC, PC-H and PC-Z.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
XRD patterns of activated carbons.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
SEM micrographs with different magnifications of PC-H (A–B) and PC-Z (C–D).
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
(A) Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms at 77 K for samples activated carbon, and (B) Incremental pore volumes by BJH desorption branch of the isotherm.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Effect of adsorbent dose on BPA adsorption (solution volume = 100 ml, initial concentration = 50 mg L−1, temperature = 293 K, pH = 6.7).
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
(A) Effect of pH on the amount of BPA adsorbed (solution volume = 100 ml, temperature = 293 K, adsorbent dose = 0.04 g (for PC-H) and 0.1 g (for PC-Z), initial concentration = 50 mg L−1), (B) pH point of zero charge of PC-H and PC-Z.
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
(A) Effect of initial concentration on adsorption of BPA, and adsorption isotherms of BPA on (B) PC-H and (C) PC-Z.
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
The adsorption performance of BPA (A), pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetics model of BPA onto PC-H (B) and PC-Z (C).
Fig. 11
Fig. 11
Recyclability of PC-H and PC-Z.
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