High-performance removal of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid herbicide in water using activated carbon derived from Queen palm fruit endocarp (Syagrus romanzoffiana)

Abstract In this work, an activated carbon sample with a high adsorptive performance for the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) was prepared from queen palm endocarp (Syagrus romanzoffiana) by pyrolysis process. The activated carbon presented an XRD pattern related to carbon graphite and functional groups such as C–H, C=O, O–H. The material particles presented a highly-porous structure, being beneficial to the adsorption process. The activated carbon showed a remarkable specific surface area of 782 m² g-1 and pore volume of 0.441 cm3 g-1. The solution pH presented a strong influence on the adsorption process, with ideal pH = 2, being the best adsorbent dosage, 0.5 g L-1. The correspondent removal percentage was 95.4%. The pseudo-second-order model represented kinetic data, presenting R2>0.992 and MSR 0.997) and lowest values of MSR (