Fabrication of activated carbon from polyethylene terephthalate plastic waste (PET) and their application for the removal of organic dyes in aqueous solution by chemical method

Abstract

Synthetic plastics are found in all manufacturing industries and in daily life because plastic products bring convenience to life. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most popular synthetic plastics with increasing consumption. Every year, the huge amount of PET plastic waste is discharged into the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to have an effective solution for PET plastic waste. In this study, PET waste plastic was utilized to fabricate activated carbon using the chemical activating approach. H3PO4 acid was used as activating agent. The influence of impregnation rate of PET waste platic with H3PO4, activating temperature, activating time on the surface areas of activated carbon was investigated. The prepared activated carbon was well-characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR, and BET. The activated carbon prepared from the :PET plastic waste revealed high absorption toward methylene blue in aqueous solution in a wide range of pH solutions. The fabrication of activated carbon from the plastic waste not only address the environmental issues, but also produce high-value activated carbon for the environmental remediation.