Facile pyrolysis of fishbone charcoal with remarkable adsorption performance towards aqueous Pb (II)

Facile pyrolysis of fishbone charcoal towards Pb (II) adsorption was investigated in this study. The parameters of carbonization synthesis of fishbone charcoal have been examined, including heating atmosphere, heating temperature, heating rate. Furthermore, the effect of initial Pb (II) concentration, contact time, pH and temperature on the adsorption of Pb (II) onto the fishbone charcoal was also investigated in a batch system. The fishbone charcoal was characterized using scanning electron microscopy with EDX, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, X-ray diffraction analysis, thermogravimetry, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method. The equilibrium adsorption results showed that the fishbone charcoal prepared in this study exhibited a very high adsorption capacity which could reach up to 688.523 mg/g, 761.471 mg/g, 961.130 mg/g at 25 °C, 35 °C and 45 °C aqueous temperature, respectively. The adsorption isotherms data showed that the adsorption fitted Langmuir model. The kinetic data followed pseudo-first-order. Furthermore, the thermodynamic parameters (ΔG0, ΔH0 and ΔS0) data also indicated that it was a feasible, non-spontaneous, and endothermic adsorption process. This study suggests that the fishbone charcoal can be prepared as a high-efficient, low-cost and environmentally adsorbent towards to Pb(II) adsorption.