Adsorption of Paraquat dichloride from aqueous solution by activated carbon derived from used tires

The removal of pesticide from wastewater under different batch experimental conditions, using a car tire derived activated carbon was investigated. The pesticide utilized in the study was Paraquat dichloride (1,1-dimethyl-4,4-bipyridyl dichloride), which is a well known herbicide. The adsorbent was produced from the pyrolysis and activation of used tires (TAC). The performances of this adsorbent and a commercial activated carbon F300 (CAC) have been compared. It was determined that the adsorption of Paraquat was weakly pH dependent. The effects of particle size, carbon dosage, temperature and the initial concentration of the Paraquat were studied. Further experiments investigating the regeneration capabilities of the tire-supplied carbon were performed. The regenerated carbons that were washed with basic pH solution were found to have the best sorption capacity recovery. It was found that the rate of sorption of Paraquat onto the carbon is very fast with almost 90% of the maximum possible adsorption taking place in the first 5 min. Nevertheless, the batch sorption kinetics was fitted for a first-order reversible reaction, a pseudo-first-order reaction and a pseudo-second-order reaction. The pseudo-second-order chemical reaction model appears to provide the best correlation. The applicability of the Langmuir isotherm for the present system has been evaluated at different temperatures. The isotherms show that the sorption capacity of CAC decreases with temperature and the dominant mechanism of CAC adsorption is physical sorption.