Adsorption characteristics of chromium ion at low concentration using oxyfluorinated activated carbon fibers

Abstract

In this work, activated carbon fibers (ACFs) were oxyfluorinated and their adsorption ability for the low concentration of hexavalent chromium in an aqueous solution was investigated. The pore structure and surface properties of ACFs were examined by BET and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. Due to the oxyfluorination treatment, the content of (C-O) bond on ACFs surface which influences the adsorption capacity for heavy metal ions increased largely, resulting that Cr6+ adsorption equilibrium reached quickly within 10 min. In addition, the maximum removal efficiency at the initial Cr6+ concentration of 20 ppm was observed, which is a 100% improvement compared to that of non-treated ACFs. These results suggest that the oxyfluorination of ACFs can be applied as a good surface treatment for the effective adsorption of the low concentration of Cr6+.