Preparation of a specific bamboo based activated carbon and its application for ciprofloxacin removal

The studied bamboo based activated carbon (BbAC) with high specific surface area (SSA) and high micro pore volume was prepared from bamboo scraps by the combined activation of H3PO4 and K2CO3. The BbAC was characterized based on the N2 adsorption isotherm at 77K. The results showed that the SSA and pore volume of BbAC increased with increasing impregnation ratio and reached maxima at the impregnation ratio of 3:1 at 750°C. Under these optimal conditions, the BbAC obtained could have a maximum SSA of 2237m2/g and a maximum total pore volume of 1.23cm3/g with the micro pore ratio of more than 90%. The adsorption performance of ciprofloxacin (CIP) on the BbAC was determined at 298K. The Langmuir and Freundlich models were employed to describe the adsorption equilibrium and the kinetic data were fitted by pseudo first-order and pseudo second-order kinetic models. The results showed that the Langmuir model and the pseudo second-order kinetic model presented better fittings for the adsorption equilibrium and kinetics data, respectively. The maximum adsorption amount of CIP (613mg/g) on the BbAC was much higher than the report in the literature. Conclusively, the BbAC could be a promising adsorption material for CIP removal from water. [Display omitted] •Activated carbon was prepared by combined activation of H3PO4 and K2CO3 from bamboo.•The microporous structure of product was comparable with other bamboo-based carbon.•The bamboo-based activated carbon was first time used as adsorbent for ciprofloxacin.•The adsorption amount of ciprofloxacin on carbon product reached 613mg/g.•The maximum adsorption amount of ciprofloxacin was much higher than other adsorbents.