Adsorption of phenol on porous carbon from Toona sinensis leaves and its mechanism

Abstract The adsorption performances of phenol onto porous carbon from Toona sinensis leaves were carried out. The carbon material possessed the outstanding surface area of 2719 m2/g under mass ratio of 3. The maximum adsorption capacity was recorded as 325 mg/g for 800 mg/L of phenol at 25 °C. In kinetic and isotherm studies, the data were well explained by the pseudo second-order and Langmuir equations, revealing the major monolayer adsorption. The Gibbs free energy change and thermal analysis indicated that the adsorption mechanism was mainly physical in nature via the π–π dispersion interaction.