Removal of phosphate from aqueous solution by sewage sludge-based activated carbon loaded with pyrolusite

Abstract

Activated carbons were prepared from sewage sludge by chemical activation with pyrolusite (PAC) to develop an efficient adsorbent for phosphate removal from aqueous solution. One percent (wt.) pyrolusite addition was proved to have an important effect on pore formation of the produced carbon. PAC showed 17.06% larger Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area than the sewage sludge-based activated carbon without modification (SAC). The adsorption results showed that the phosphate removal by PAC was 13% higher than SAC’s. The adsorption experiments also showed that PAC had very good performance with high phosphate removal rate (ca. 90%) in a wide pH range (pH = 4–8), and could be stable after 30 min reaction. Adsorption isotherm and kinetics studies demonstrated that phosphate adsorption onto the modified adsorbent was well fitted by the Langmuir isotherm and could be described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The modified sewage sludge-based activated carbons were effective and alternative adsorbents for the removal of phosphorus from aqueous solution due to their considerable adsorptive capacities and the low-cost renewable sources.