Adsorption Removal of Phosphorus from Aqueous Solution by the Activated Carbon Prepared from Sugarcane Bagasse

The activated carbon was prepared firstly by soaking sugarcane bagasse in 0.39% AlCl3 solution, and then by carbonization in a charcoal kiln at 400oC for 2 days and activation in a muffle furnace at 900°C for 100 minutes. The adsorption removal of phosphorus from aqueous solution by the prepared activated carbons was studied in a batch adsorption system. The amount of phosphorus adsorbed per unit mass of adsorbent decreased from 1.13 to 0.33 mg/g and the removal percentage of phosphorus increased from 22.64 to 99.27% with increasing adsorbent dosages from 100 to 1500 mg in 50mL solution of the initial phosphorus concentration of 10mg/L. With increasing phosphorus concentrations from 1 to 30 mg/L, the amount of phosphorus adsorbed increased from 0.06 to 1.11 mg/g and the percent adsorption decreased from 91.93 to 57.34%. The dynamical data fit very well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2>0.9962) and the Langmuir model agreed well with the experimental data (R2>0.9648).