Preferential adsorption of pentachlorophenol from chlorophenols-containing wastewater using N-doped ordered mesoporous carbon.

Preferential removal of pentachlorophenol (PCP) from chlorophenols-containing wastewater has been attracted more attentions in wastewater treatment, since it is one of the most toxic pollutants. The adsorbent of N-doped ordered mesoporous carbon (M-OMC) with high BET surface area of 1901 m(2)/g, large pore volume of 1.64 cm(3)/g and uniform pore size of 3.45 nm has been successfully synthesized via evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) method. The effects of solution pH, pore structure of adsorbent and their surface chemical properties on PCP adsorption by M-OMC were investigated in comparison with ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC), and much higher PCP adsorption capacities of M-OMC were obtained. The significantly preferential adsorption of PCP was achieved in the treatment of tri-component wastewater including PCP, p-chlorophenol (CP) and 2.4.6-trichlorophenol (TCP), and its adsorption process well fitted the pseudo-second-order kinetics model and the Langmuir isotherm. The initial sorption rate of PCP was 103.5 μmol/(g/min), which was 2.97 times of TCP. It may be attributed to the intensification of π-π interaction between PCP and M-OMC with the nitrogen functional groups. Therefore, M-OMC is promising for removal of PCP in the adsorption pretreatment of chlorophenols-containing wastewater.