Brilliant Blue R Adsorption from Aqueous Solution on Activated Carbon Produced from Corncob Waste

Brilliant blue R adsorption from aqueous solution on activated carbon produced from corncob waste was investigated. The carbon samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS and FTIR methods. The surface functional groups (carboxyl, lactone or phenol, ether, hydroxyl) disappeared at high activation temperature, resulting in a high amount of carbon with respect to oxygen. The kinetic studies of the adsorption of brilliant blue R on carbon at 10 and 45 °C showed that the first order and intraparticle diffusion models apply to the data. The reaction rate increased with the increase in temperature of adsorption/activation. Thermodynamic parameters like ΔE^#, ΔH^# and ΔS^# for adsorption were calculated from the kinetic data. The positive value of ΔH^# shows the endothermic nature of adsorption which decreased with the increase in adsorption/activation temperature. The negative values of ΔS^# reflect a decrease in the disorder of the system at the solid‐solution interface during adsorption. Equilibrium studies showed that the data fits the Langmuir model.