Investigation of changes in properties of activated carbon cloth upon polarization and of electrosorption of the dye basic blue-7

The changes taking place in surface and electrochemical properties of activated carbon cloth (ACC) upon polarization have been investigated. The ACC was polarized at +1.0, +2.0 and -2.0 mA for a period of 90 mm. The surface properties such as specific surface area, pore volumes, pore size distribution, pH at the point of zero charge and the electrochemical properties such as specific capacitance, potential of zero charge and open circuit potentials of polarization-treated ACCs were determined. They were compared with the corresponding properties of pristine ACC. In the second part of the work electrosorptive removal of a polycyclic dye, basic blue-7 (BB-7), from its solutions in water, in 0.01 M Na2SO4 and in a buffer at pH 6.4 was studied. The adsorption/electrosorption data in the three media were treated according to pseudo-first-order kinetics. Good fits were obtained with the experimental and simulated data. Adsorption/electrosorption behavior of BB-7 in different media were discussed in terms of interactions between the ACC surface and the adsorbate with some proposed mechanisms. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.