Preparation and adsorption properties of iron and manganese modified N-doping mesoporous carbon from waste biomass

The iron and manganese modified mesoporous carbon (MC-Fe, MC-Mn and MC-Fe/Mn) was prepared from waste biomass with nitrogen-doping assistance. The modified MCs were characterized by BET, XRD, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. It was found that the introduction of nitrogen on MCs restrained the pore plugging caused by metals doping, and its BET surface area and total pores volume were around 1,200 m(2)/g and 1.00 cm(3)/g, respectively, because nitrogen could facilitate the dispersion of metals on MC evenly. The introduction of Fe might promote the formation of -O-CH3 while Mn might contribute to the formation of the C=O functional group on the surface of MCs. The adsorption results show that the adsorption capacities of modified MCs toward methylene blue (MB) were enhanced evidently by the introduction of Fe and/ or Mn, which was increased from 911 to 1,030 mg/g. The higher adsorption capacity of MB could be attributed to the unchanged porous structure, metal active adsorption sites and modified surface chemistry on modified MCs.