Recovery of synthetic copper ions by activated carbon from an industrial plastic PVC waste: Equilibrium, dynamic, kinetic and thermodynamic studies

[Display omitted] •Obtained activated carbon from waste PVCW shows very effective Cu2+ ions removal efficiency.•Chemical activation and pyrolysis improve the adsorption properties of PVCW-AC.•PVCW-AC shows a high maximum adsorption capacity by Langmuir of 145.63 mg/g.•Na, Mg, Ca and Ti elements on PVCW-AC surface contribute in the Cu2+ exchange.•pH, solid/liquid ratio, concentration and temperature influence the Cu2+ ions removal efficiency. The recovery of Cu2+ ions by activated carbon obtained by an industrial polyvinyl chloride waste was examined. The raw material was treated chemically by KOH and activated carbon was obtained by pyrolysis at 700 °C. The textural surface properties of the adsorbent were characterized by XRD, SEM and FTIR. An adsorption experiments were conducted to assess the effect of pH, solid/liquid ratio, concentration and temperature on PVCW-AC removal effectiveness. Box-Behnken design was used to optimize the parameters. A removal percentage of 98 % and a maximum adsorption capacity of 145.63 mg/g were recorded. The adsorption followed pseudo-second order kinetic model.