Biochar material derived from natural waste with superior dye adsorption performance

In this work, methyl orange (MO) in an aqueous solution was adsorbed by activated carbon prepared from date seeds (ACDS). This biochar was chemically activated using H3PO4 with a weight ratio of 1:1 at 900 degrees C for 2 h. Fourier Transform InfraRed analysis (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy and the isoelectric pH were used to characterize the obtained material. The FTIR showed the loss of serval functional groups of the date seeds during the preparation process. The morphology study has demonstrated that ACDS exhibited a porous structure. However, the isoelectric point was found at pH 6. The maximum adsorption amount of MO on ACDS is 334 mg/g was obtained after 2 h of interaction between 0.4 g of activated carbon and 100 mg/L of MO at pH 3. Moreover, the study of adsorption isotherms showed that the pollutant adsorption data follow the Langmuir model, indicating the monolayer coverage of OM on the biochar adsorbent surface. The determined thermodynamic parameters values are negative. The nature of the reaction is therefore exothermic, feasible and the adsorption of MO is spontaneous.Copyright (c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 4thInternational Conference on Advanced Materials for Photonics, Sensing and Energy Conversion Energy Applications.