Iodide Removal by Resorcinol-Formaldehyde Carbon Aerogels
Andrea Domán,
Bekassyl Battalgazy,
Gábor Dobos,
Gábor Kiss,
Zhandos Tauanov,
Krisztina László,
Antonis A. Zorpas,
Vassilis J. Inglezakis
Affiliations
Andrea Domán
Surface Chemistry Group, Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Science, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3, 1111 Budapest, Hungary
Bekassyl Battalgazy
Environmental Science & Technology Group (ESTg), Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering, School of Engineering, Nazarbayev University, Qabanbay Batyr Ave 53, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
Gábor Dobos
Surface Physics Laboratory, Department of Atomic Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3, 1111 Budapest, Hungary
Gábor Kiss
Surface Physics Laboratory, Department of Atomic Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3, 1111 Budapest, Hungary
Zhandos Tauanov
Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, al-Farabi Kazakh National University, 71 al-Farabi Ave., Almaty 050040, Kazakhstan
Krisztina László
Surface Chemistry Group, Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Science, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3, 1111 Budapest, Hungary
Antonis A. Zorpas
Laboratory of Chemical Engineering and Engineering Sustainability, Faculty of Pure and Applied Science, Open University of Cyprus, Giannou Kranidioti 33, Latsia, Nicosia 2220, Cyprus
Vassilis J. Inglezakis
Chemical and Process Engineering Department, University of Strathclyde, 75 Montrose Street, Glasgow G1 1XJ, UK
The adsorption technique is widely used in water purification, and its efficiency can be significantly improved by target-specific adsorbent design. Research on iodine and its ion removal from water has attracted a great deal of interest due to increased concentrations in the environment and acute toxic effects, e.g., in human thyroid cells. In this work, the iodide removal performance of two high-surface-area resorcinol–formaldehyde-based carbon aerogels was studied under acidic conditions. The BET surface area was 790 m2/g (RF_ac) and 375 m2/g (RMF-GO), with a corresponding micropore ratio of 36 and 26%, respectively. Both aerogels showed outstanding adsorption capacity, exceeding the reported performance of other carbons and Ag-doped materials. Owing to its basic nature, the RMF-GO carbon aerogel showed higher I− capacity, up to 97 mg/g, than the acidic RF_ac, which reached a capacity of 82 mg/g. The surface chemistry of the aerogels also played a distinct role in the removal. In terms of kinetics, RF_ac removed 60% of the iodide ions and RMF-GO 30% within 8 h. The removal kinetics was of the first order, with a half-life of 1.94 and 1.70 h, respectively.
