Simultaneous removal of polyaromatic hydrocarbons from water using polymer modified carbon

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are hazardous organic micropollutants that are ubiquitous as well as recalcitrant to degradation. They are generally found in wastewater bodies with proximity to gas production, oil exploration, and other processing industries. Therefore, their clean-up and removal techniques are of high importance. In this work, a novel adsorbent was developed by modification of palm date seed-derived activated carbon (AC) with acrylic acid-co-crotonic acid polymer. The effectiveness of the produced polymer-modified AC (PM-AC) in the simultaneous aquatic removal of naphthalene and fluorene was studied systematically. The physicochemical characteristics of the developed PM-AC adsorbent were assessed by FTIR, SEM, and EDX. The equilibrium data are well in agreement with the Langmuir isotherm model and the adsorption capacity of the PM-AC was determined as 2.76 mg g⁻¹ by considering this model. The adsorption mechanism of both PAHs onto the PM-AC adsorbent was well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The thermodynamic ΔG parameter showed the increased spontaneity of the PAHs adsorption with raising the temperature as the ΔH value confirmed the endothermic nature of the adsorption process. The π–π interactions were the key mechanisms of PAHs adsorption onto the prepared adsorbent. The PM-AC also demonstrated good adsorption performance in the case of a model wastewater sample containing some toxic heavy metals. The obtained findings revealed that the prepared PM-AC composite could be a promising adsorbent for developing cost-effective filters for the removal of PAHs from urban wastewaters. The PAHs levels were determined by using gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS). Recovery values were found nearly quantitative (≥ 95%).