article · Applied Sciences
Yassine Ez zoubiActivated carbon was manufactured from argan nutshells using phosphoric acid activation and characterised using thermogravimetric analysis, infrared spectrometry, and surface area measurements. The resulting material was evaluated for its ability to extract two emerging contaminants, the pharmaceutical diclofenac and the stimulant caffeine, from aqueous solutions in batch and dynamic conditions. Testing demonstrated that adsorption reached equilibrium within 60 minutes for diclofenac and 90 minutes for caffeine, following pseudo-second-order reaction kinetics. Modelling indicated maximum adsorption capacities of approximately 126 milligrams per gram for diclofenac and 210 milligrams per gram for caffeine. Thermodynamic analysis confirmed that the adsorption process was spontaneous in both cases, proceeding exothermically for diclofenac and endothermically for caffeine.
Pharmaceutical residues and stimulants are persistent emerging contaminants that challenge standard water treatment facilities. Converting agricultural waste, such as argan nutshells, into high-capacity activated carbon demonstrates an approach to addressing water pollution using sustainable precursor materials. Establishing the speed and capacity of contaminant uptake provides baseline parameters needed to evaluate bio-based adsorbents for purifying contaminated water supplies.
This process could enable the production of bio-based filtration media for water treatment operators and environmental remediation services seeking to capture dissolved pharmaceutical pollutants. Given that the data derives entirely from laboratory-scale batch and dynamic experiments in distilled water, the technology remains at an early research stage, requiring evaluation in complex real-world wastewater conditions before commercial deployment.
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Activated carbons from argan nutshells were prepared by chemical activation using phosphoric acid H3PO4. This material was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, infrared spectrometry, and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method. The adsorption of two emerging compounds, a stimulant caffeine and an anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, from distilled water through batch and dynamic tests was investigated. Batch mode experiments were conducted to assess the capacity of adsorption of caffeine and diclofenac from an aqueous solution using the carbon above. Adsorption tests showed that the equilibrium time is 60 and 90 min for diclofenac and caffeine, respectively. The adsorption of diclofenac and caffeine on activated carbon from argan nutshells is described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The highest adsorption capacity determined by the mathematical model of Langmuir is about 126 mg/g for diclofenac and 210 mg/g for caffeine. The thermodynamic parameters attached to the studied absorbent/adsorbate system indicate that the adsorption process is spontaneous and exothermic for diclofenac and endothermic for caffeine.
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DOI: 10.3390/app12062922
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