A novel physicochemical activation method to synthesize mesopores enriched bamboo porous carbon for high-efficient adsorption of methylene blue

Abstract

Industrial waste water from the textile and printing industries contains high concentrations of dyes, demonstrating a negative impact on both water ecosystems and human health. Bio-activated carbon with advantages of large surface area, good stability, high practical and cost-effective features serve as promising materials to address this problem. In this study, a novel one-step physicochemical carbonization-activation method involving H₃PO₄ and CO₂ was employed to prepare highly adsorptive bamboo porous carbon for methylene blue (MB) removal from wastewater by utilizing bamboo waste as a raw material. The structure characterization, adsorption isotherms and kinetic analyses showed that the specific surface area of bamboo porous carbon and its adsorption capacity on MB followed a rise with activation temperature. Benefiting from the deep reaction between bamboo carbon and physicochemical activators, mesopores enriched porous structure was achieved and the maximum specific surface area reached 2250 m²/g. Adsorption by bamboo porous carbon was primarily involved pore filling, electrostatic attraction, π-π stacking, and hydrogen bonding, contributing to the adsorption capacity of MB as high as 759.15 mg/g. Adsorption kinetics and isotherms followed pseudo-first-order model and Langmuir isotherm model. This study provides a novel, facile approach to obtain mesopores enriched bamboo porous carbon for realizing value-added utilization of bamboo wastage and its application in dye wastewater treatment.