Removel Pf Phenol by Carbon Nanotubes and Activated Carbon- Acomparative Analysis

Toxic organic substances are considered among the pollutants that have direct effect on humans and animals. Industrial wastewaters containing dissolved phenol compounds can contaminate groundwater resources and thus lead to a serious groundwater pollution problem. In the present research, the adsorption technique for the efficient removal of organic substances at trace level was employed. It is a mass transfer process that involves contact of a solid (adsorbent) with a fluid containing the target solute (adsorbate). Carbonaceous materials such as carbon nanotube (CNT) and activated carbon (AC) are characterized by their extraordinary large specific surface area, well-developed porosity and tunable surface-containing functional groups. As a result, these carbon materials were utilized in this study as adsorbents for the removal of phenol compounds from synthetic contaminated water. Four parameters including pH (2-7) of the solution, agitation speed (50-250 rpm), contact time (0-12 hr), and adsorbent dosage (0-500 mg) were varied in order to determine their influence on the removal of phenolic compounds from water and to investigate the influence of these parameters on the adsorption rate. The concentration of phenol in water before and after treatment was analyzed using UV-Spectroscopy.