Investigation on the Preparation and Adsorption Performance of Bamboo Fiber Based Activated Carbon

In this work, an approach was explored to make natural fiber based activated carbon with high adsorption capacity for treating dyeing wastewater. Bamboo fiber based activated carbon (BFAC) was prepared by bamboo fiber extracted from bamboo strips by extracting technique. An orthogonal experiment was carried out to obtain optimum preparation condition for the best dye adsorption. The microstructures of BFAC were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, N2 adsorption-desorption analysis, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Adsorption mechanism of BFAC to methylene blue (MB) was studied and the adsorption isotherm followed the Langmuir model, with maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 651.7 mg g-1. The adsorption kinetic was better described by the pseudo-second-order model. Microstructure characterization showed lots of opened pores and cracks with different size on BFAC, with Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 1370 m2 g-1 and total pore volume of 0.9411 cm3 g-1. The analysis indicated that cellulose crystal of bamboo fiber was severely destroyed in the preparation process, which could contribute to the formation of pores. Moreover, -OH and -C=O functional groups on BFAC are beneficial for adsorbing MB in aqueous solution. As a result, adopting bamboo fiber may help form BFAC with high BET surface area, which proved to be an effective idea to prepare activated carbon with high adsorption performance.