Adsorption of Disperse Orange 30 dye onto activated carbon derived from Holm Oak (Quercus Ilex) acorns: A 3k factorial design and analysis

•Activated carbon samples were generated from Holm Oak acorn as precursor.•Samples were chemically activated using H3PO4, ZnCl2 and KOH as activating agents.•Texture properties were evaluated using SEM, FTIR, BET and elemental analysis methods.•34 factorial design was used to determine the effective factors and interactions.•Regression models for each activating agent were constructed separately.

In this study, samples of activated carbon were prepared from Holm Oak acorns by chemical activation with H3PO4, ZnCl2 and KOH as activating agents. The samples were characterized by SEM, BET, FTIR and elemental analysis, and were then evaluated for the removal of Disperse Orange 30 (DO30) dyes from aqueous solutions. A 3k factorial design was used to determine the interaction effects of carbonization temperature, pH, dosage of adsorbent and type of activating agent on the amount of dye removal. Also, level of effectiveness factors were determined by conducting regression models for maximum adsorption efficiency. Of all the samples, the sample generated using ZnCl2 as an activating agent showed a maximum dye removal efficiency of 93.5% at a carbonization temperature of 750 °C, a pH of 2 and an adsorbent dosage of 0.15 g/25 ml. The analysis shows that the adsorption process depends significantly on the type of activating agent used in the preparation of activated carbon.

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