INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY FIELD

Abstract:    Phenolic compounds are important contaminants in industrial wastewater, creating a need for effective and economical treatment approaches. The present study investigates the adsorption of phenol from aqueous solution using eight carbon adsorbents (C1–C8) prepared from biomass materials, including bamboo dust, sawdust, rice husks, and used tea leaves through pyrolysis and/or sulfuric-acid treatment. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted to evaluate the influence of initial phenol concentration, adsorbent dosage, pH, contact time, and temperature on removal efficiency. Considerable differences were observed among the adsorbents, with C3 demonstrating comparatively high phenol removal; at a dosage of 4.8 g dm⁻³, it removed approximately 80% of phenol under the specified experimental conditions. Increasing contact time generally enhanced adsorption, with C3 adsorbing up to 92% of phenol from a 50 mg dm⁻³ solution after five hours. The equilibrium data were evaluated using Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models, both of which adequately represented phenol adsorption across the investigated temperatures of 303, 308, and 313 K. The reported Langmuir separation-factor values (0 < Rₗ < 1) indicated favourable adsorption, while adsorption generally decreased with increasing temperature, suggesting an exothermic process. Overall, the findings demonstrate the potential of biomass-derived carbon adsorbents as relatively inexpensive materials for phenol removal from contaminated aqueous systems and highlight the potential value of agricultural residues in wastewater-treatment applications.