Removal of phenol and inorganic metals from wastewater using activated ceramic

Phenol constitutes one of the main pollutants in wastewater. In the present study, adsorption with the use of a cheap alternative bio-filtration medium (activated ceramic, AC) was carried out to remove organic (phenol) and inorganic metals, such as zinc (Zn+2), copper (Cu+2), and lead (Pb+2). Activated ceramic was modified by ozonation with a mixture of crushed coal, Kaolin, and Bentonite, which were thermally treated in a vacuum furnace at temperatures ranging between 300 °C and 600 °C. The volume ratio of crushed coal to Kaolin to Bentonite was 4:6:1. This mixture was mixed with water by the volume ratio of 1:1. The mixture had been exposed to ozone before being used for activation. The pH measurements, chemical analysis, and FT-IR spectra were performed, and textural characterization was obtained. The influence of different parameters including different doses and contact times were investigated. For contact times of between 20 and 120 min, the removal efficiencies of phenol were 23% to 61%, and 56% to 79% with AC amounts of 5 g and 40 g, respectively. The Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm equations were used to explore the adsorption kinetics. The equilibrium data was found to best fit with both models. The use of AC for the removal of phenol showed a high removal efficiency of 85%, whereas the AC removes 67%, 59%, and 41% of Pb+2, Cu+2, and Zn+2, respectively.