Equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic studies of removal of phenol from aqueous solution using surface engineered chemistry

Iron impregnated activated carbon has been used as a new adsorbent for the adsorptive removal of phenol from waste water. Impregnation of iron was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectroscopy. Different parameters affecting the adsorption capacity of Iron impregnated activated carbon such as Iron impregnated activated carbon dosage, contact time, pH of solution, initial concentration of phenol and agitation speed were optimized. The residual concentration of phenol was determined by UV-Vis spectroscopy. Maximum adsorption efficiency was calculated 98.5% at optimized parameters: concentration of phenol 25 mg L−1, Iron impregnated activated carbon dose 75 mg, pH 7.0 and agitation time 90 min. The experimental data was fitted to different adsorption isotherms and adsorption capacities obtained were 20 and 15 mg g−1, respectively. Adsorption energy was found to be 1.54 kJ mol−1 which predicts that phenol was adsorbed onto the Iron impregnated activated carbon through physisorption.