eprintid: 11632 rev_number: 2 eprint_status: archive userid: 1 dir: disk0/00/01/16/32 datestamp: 2023-11-10 03:26:09 lastmod: 2023-11-10 03:26:09 status_changed: 2023-11-10 01:15:43 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Anjum, H. creators_name: Johari, K. creators_name: Gnanasundaram, N. creators_name: Appusamy, A. creators_name: Thanabalan, M. title: Impact of surface modification on adsorptive removal of BTX onto activated carbon ispublished: pub keywords: Activated carbon; Benzene; Chemical industry; Isotherms; Optimization; Scanning electron microscopy; Sorption; Surface treatment; Thermogravimetric analysis; Toluene; Volatile organic compounds; Xylene, Adsorption capacities; Attenuated total reflections; Commercial activated carbons; High adsorption capacity; Hydrophobic pollutants; Intra-particle diffusion; Langmuir isotherm models; Sorption mechanism, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy note: cited By 32 abstract: The wastewater from chemical industries encapsulates a variety of different volatile organic compounds. Among these hydrophobic pollutants, benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) are the most harmful organic compounds. The abatement of these deleterious compounds is mandatory. The efficacy of surface modified activated carbon for the uptake of these carcinogenic moieties was analyzed. The commercial activated carbon was functionalized with green oxidizing agents. The structural properties of pristine AC (P-AC) and oxidized AC (O-AC) were analyzed by BET surface area analyzer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and variable pressure field emission scanning electron microscope (VPFESEM). The effect of all the variables namely contact time, temperature, pH and dose was substantially analyzed and optimized. The sorption equilibrium was quickly established within 30 min. The present sorption process conforms to pseudo 2nd order kinetic model and is controlled by intra-particle diffusion. The maximum sorption capacity was computed to be 260.78 mg/g, 263.16 mg/g, 269.55 mg/g for benzene, toluene, and p-xylene respectively, outlining that Langmuir isotherm model fits the data reasonably well as compared to that of Freundlich and D-R model. Furthermore, electrostatic interaction is the plausible mechanism for sorption of BTX onto O-AC. Thus, this mode of functionalization is regarded as the contemporary protocol with high adsorption capacity towards the uptake of BTX as compared to that of previous studies reported in literature. © 2019 Elsevier B.V. date: 2019 publisher: Elsevier B.V. official_url: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85061597282&doi=10.1016%2fj.molliq.2019.02.046&partnerID=40&md5=54e24e1128d4abe00718d47776155ee9 id_number: 10.1016/j.molliq.2019.02.046 full_text_status: none publication: Journal of Molecular Liquids volume: 280 pagerange: 238-251 refereed: TRUE issn: 01677322 citation: Anjum, H. and Johari, K. and Gnanasundaram, N. and Appusamy, A. and Thanabalan, M. (2019) Impact of surface modification on adsorptive removal of BTX onto activated carbon. Journal of Molecular Liquids, 280. pp. 238-251. ISSN 01677322