Promising Porous Carbon Material Derived from Argan Paste Cake by KOH Activation, for Paracetamol Removal

Abstract

This study focuses on the preparation and characterization of activated carbon derived from Argan paste cake through carbonization at 300 °C followed by activation at 800 °C, utilizing KOH as the activation agent with a ratio of 1:1. The objective of this research is to compare the adsorption capacity of the obtained sample, referred to as APC-300-800, with a commercially available granular activated carbon (GAC) purchased from Aquasorb. The preparation involved various characterization techniques such as BET (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller) analysis, XRD (X-ray diffraction), and SEM (scanning electron microscopy). BET analysis revealed that APC-300-800 exhibited a high surface area of 1937 m2/g. Subsequently, adsorption tests were conducted, leading to the observation that APC-300-800 conforms to the second pseudo-order kinetic model, and the adsorption of paracetamol can be accurately described by the Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm model, exhibiting an R2 value of 0.89665. The maximum adsorption capacity of paracetamol on APC-300-800, as determined by the Langmuir model, was found to be 344.82 mg/g. Additionally, thermodynamic studies revealed that the adsorption process on APC-300-800 was primarily governed by physisorption, while for GAC, it was attributed to chemisorption. These findings highlight the potential of APC-300-800 as an efficient adsorbent for water treatment applications, showcasing its favorable adsorption characteristics compared to commercially available alternatives.