Mechanistic study of atenolol, acebutolol and carbamazepine adsorption on waste biomass derived activated carbon

Palm kernel shell (PKS) was physically activated by carbon dioxide at 900 °C for 1.5 h and tested for its ability to remove Atenolol (ATE), Acebutolol (ACE) and Carbamazepine (CBM), which are pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs). Rapid adsorption of PhACs took place in the first 90 min and reached equilibrium after 4 h. The kinetic data were best fitted by the Ritchie-second-order model and confirmed by the diffusion-chemisorption model implying a predominantly chemisorption mechanism. The isotherm adsorption studies showed that the maximum adsorption capacities of ATE, ACE and CBM were 0.69, 0.67 and 0.72 mmol/g respectively. The best fit isotherm was the Sips equation.