Study of Cr(VI) adsorption onto nitrogen-containing activated carbon preparation from bamboo processing residues

Nitrogen-containing bamboo charcoals were prepared using bamboo processing residues, and modified by melamine or urea. The iodine value of the products we obtained was analyzed, and two samples were chosen for the Cr(VI) adsorption. The experimental results show that under the KOH and carbon ratio of 3:1 (w1/w2), activation temperature 800 °C and activation time 1 h, the activated carbons modified by melamine boasted the iodine value of 1144 mg/g and the activated carbons modified by urea boasted the iodine value of 1263 mg/g. In addition, the equilibrium adsorption capacity is 95.3 mg/g for the activated carbons modified by melamine with the adsorbent dosage of 1.0 g/L at an initial pH 2 in the presence of 100 mg/L K2Cr2O7 at 30 °C for 180 min and it is 94.2 mg/g for the activated carbons modified by urea in the same reaction condition. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model can better reflect the two kinds of nitrogen-containing activated carbons adsorption kinetic process of Cr(VI). The adsorption process conforms to the Langmuir model, indicating that the process is single molecular layer adsorption.