Harnessing durian seed and shell waste-derived activated carbon for effective aqueous phenol removal

This work aimed to synthesize and characterize activated carbon derived from durian wastes, a substantial agricultural by-product in Thailand, with a focus on its efficacy in aqueous phenol removal. The activated carbon derived from durian seed (AC-DSE) and activated carbon derived from durian shell (AC-DSH) was prepared using phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄) as the activating agent, subsequently, carbonization occurred under a nitrogen atmosphere. The synthesized samples underwent comprehensive characterization. In phenol removal, the adsorption performance of the AC-DSE was notable, achieving a phenol removal efficiency of around 90% within 180 min, employing 0.1 g of AC-DSE for 20 ml of aqueous phenol solution (initial concentration: 10 mg/l). Compared with AC-DSH and a commercial activated carbon, the obtained AC-DSE exhibited the highest phenol removal due to high specific surface area of 2,054 m²/g, with an average pore size of 3.85 nm, micro, and mesopore volumes of 1.43 and 2.27 cm³/g, respectively. Moreover, the adsorption behaviour followed to the Langmuir model, while the experimental data closely aligned with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. These findings emphasize the potential of activated carbon derived from durian waste as a sustainable adsorbent for organic removal from wastewater.