High surface area mesoporous activated carbon produced from Iraqi reed via pyrolysis assisted H3PO4 activation: Box-Behnken design for surfactant removal

Herein, pyrolysis assisted H3PO4 activation was employed to produce activated carbon (AC) from Iraqi reed (IR) biomass waste. After pyrolysis assisted H3PO4 activation of IR, the BET surface area dramatically increased (0.5542 m2/g for IR to 1045.18 m2/g for IRAC). The removal of a model anionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, SDBS) by IRAC was studied. Box-Behnken design (BBD) was implemented to investigate the critical adsorption factors (A: dose, 0.02-0.1 g; B: pH, 4-10; C: time, 30-120 min). Adsorption kinetics and equilibrium adsorption data revealed that SDBS adsorption by IRAC fits the pseudo-second order and Langmuir models for kinetic and equilibrium conditions, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) of IRAC for SDBS was specified to be 121.5 mg/g. This study demonstrates the utility of IR as a biomass precursor for the efficient synthesis of IRAC and its application for removal of anionic surfactants from industrial effluent.