Using activated carbon prepared from Typha orientalis Presl to remove phenol from aqueous solutions

• The economical and efficient adsorbent carbon was prepared from Typha orientalis Presl.
• We examined its ability to remove the phenol from aqueous solution.
• The mechanism indicated the chemisorption, followed pseudo-second-order kinetics.
• The equilibrium data coincided with the Langmuir model.

Low-cost activated carbon was prepared from Typha orientalis Presl. The ability of the activated carbon to remove phenol from an aqueous solution was evaluated. Batch adsorption experiments were performed to study the effects of various physicochemical parameters (the initial phenol concentration, adsorbent dose, initial solution pH, and temperature) on phenol adsorption by the activated carbon. The time taken to reach equilibrium was 135 min. The amount of phenol adsorbed increased as the pH increased, and the optimum value for phenol adsorption by the T. orientalis activated carbon was pH 5.0. The ionic strength had a minimal effect on the removal of phenol. The optimum adsorbent dose was 14.30 g/L. Adsorption followed pseudo-second-order kinetics, indicating that the dominant adsorption mechanism was chemisorption. The equilibrium data were better represented by the Freundlich isotherm than the Langmuir model. Ethanol and NaOH could be selected as effective reagents for the regeneration of the spent activated carbons.