Preparation of activated carbons from date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) palm stones and application for wastewater treatments: Review

• Modification of date stones to activated carbon has been reviewed.
• Application of date stone carbons for pollutants adsorption was presented.
• Effects of variables on carbon structure and performance were discussed.
• Future ideas for improvement of this field have been proposed.

Adsorption on activated carbons from lignocellulosic biomass has been a cost-effective technique for elimination of environmental pollution. Date stone can be considered as one of the best candidate among the agricultural wastes due to its quite availability and high carbon content. This article provided an overview of the different techniques that so far have been applied for conversion of date stone to carbon adsorbent. The effects of temperature, time, impregnation ratio, and type of activator on pore characteristics and yield of carbons were reviewed. According to collected data, the surface areas of date stone-carbons were in the range from 490 to 1282 m2/g and yields from 17 to 47% with highest values obtained by chemical activation. Application of date stones-carbon for adsorption of organic and inorganic pollutants has also been reviewed. Low-cost carbons derived from date pits biomass have demonstrated maximum capacities of 612.1, 359.1, 238.1, and 1594.0 mg/g for dyes, phenols, pesticide, and heavy metals, thus solving environmental problems of waste disposal and pollution control.

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