Fast and efficient removal of phenol by magnetic activated carbon-cobalt nanoparticles

Phenol-containing effluent is one of the human and environment health concerns. The present study aimed to synthesize a novel magnetic adsorbent as title magnetic cobalt nanoparticles-coated onto activated carbon (MCAC) for the first time with high efficiency to remove phenol from wastewater samples. The physicochemical properties, morphological and structural characteristics of the MCAC were investigated by EDS, FT-IR, XRD, BET, VSM and SEM. The phenol removal from industrial effluent was examined by the prepared MCAC. In addition, we assessed the effects of solution pH, temperature, initial concentration and contact time on the phenol removal efficiency. The Temkin, Freundlich and Langmuir equations were assessed to investigate the equilibrium and absorption features. The high correlation coefficient value of Langmuir model indicated that the adsorption characteristics can be better described by this model and the highest adsorption capacity of phenol on the MCAC is 107.5 mg g−1 at room temperature. Kinetics studies show that the Elovich model is a well fitness model for explaining absorption mechanism. Thermodynamic studies show that the adsorption process in the temperature range of 275–309 K was favorable, spontaneous and endothermic. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.