Optimization Studies of Porous Carbon Preparation from Oil Shale Using Response Surface Methodology and Its Application for Phenol Adsorption

This paper discusses the elaboration of adsorbents from oil shale. The experimental designs a response surface methodology(RSM), which has been applied to optimize the significant preparation factors, such as temperature, time, and the activating agent percentage. The results obtained from central composite design(CCD) revealed that the interaction between the factors was significant for the maximum quantity of adsorption(response). Planned results have shown that a maximum quantity of adsorption for methylene blue is 65 mg/g, which could be achieved with a temperature of 275 °C over 2 h and a percentage of the activating agent of 45%. The predicted values agreed with the experimental finding, with a determination coefficient(R2) of 0.96. The model has been validated by experiments after conditions optimization. The new material(RHO) was characterized by cation exchange capacity, zero charge pH, surface functions, X-ray fluorescence, specific surface area, and electron microscopy analysis. Phenol adsorption was determined using Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin, which were used to describe the adsorption isotherms. The adsorption capacity of the material was about 263 mg/g, and the kinetic studies showed rapid adsorption.