High selectivity and removal efficiency of lotus root-based activated carbon towards Fe(III) in La(III) solution

• Published in: The Korean journal of chemical engineering 2018, 35(3), 216, pp.757-763
• Main Authors: Wu, Rui-Yan, Wang, Yong, Xue, Xiao-Yan, An, Fu-Qiang, Hu, Tuo-Ping, Gao, Jian-Feng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Adsorption; Biotechnology; Catalysis; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Efficiency; Electronic; Functional groups; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Infrared radiation; Inorganic; Isotherms; Materials (Organic; Materials Science; Porosity; Rare earth elements; Raw materials; Regeneration; Selectivity; Surface area; Surface chemistry; Thin Films; 화학공학
• ISSN: 0256-1115; 1975-7220
• DOI: 10.1007/s11814-017-0322-8

Rare earth elements are an important strategic resource. However, a trace of Fe(III) impurity has serious adverse impact on the performance of rare earth materials. We synthesized a novel nitrogen-containing carbon material, AC LR-400 , using lotus root as raw materials. The AC LR-400 was characterized by surface area analyzer, elemental analysis and FT-IR. The selectivity and removal efficiency of AC LR-400 towards Fe(III) were also investigated. The BET specific surface area of AC LR-400 was 68.44 m 2 ·g −1 , and the average pore diameter was 12.54 nm. With abundant nitrogen- containing functional groups and well-developed internal pore structure, AC LR-400 possesses strong adsorption affinity, excellent selectivity and removal efficiency for Fe(III). The adsorption capacity of AC LR-400 towards Fe(III) could reach to 0.46 mmol·g −1 , selectivity coefficient with respect to La(III) was 8.9, and removal efficiency was 99.61%. The adsorption isotherm data greatly obey the Freundlich isotherm. In addition, AC LR-400 can be regenerated easily and possesses better regeneration ability and reusability.