Investigation of adsorption properties of levulinic acid by a nanotechnological material

Abstract

In this present work, levulinic acid was adsorbed from aqueous solutions by a nanotechnological material, namely multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT). The aim of this work is to determine the adsorption capacity of MWCNT at the different experimental conditions for levulinic acid uptake. The characterization of MWCNT was analyzed by FTIR and SEM. The equilibrium and kinetic adsorption experiments were performed on batch type. In these experiments, important parameters on affecting adsorption such as contact time (30-210 min), initial acid concentration (2-10%, w/w), temperature (25-45 degrees C) and adsorbent dosage (0.01-0.03 g) were investigated. In the kinetic experiments, the equilibrium time was determined as 120 min. In the equilibrium studies, the adsorption capacity values of MWCNT for the adsorption of levulinic acid increased from 68.27 mg g(-1) to 483.25 mg g(-1) at 25 degrees C with increasing the initial acid concentration. Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm parameters were calculated as depended on initial acid concentration. Kinetic models such as Elovich, pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and Weber-Morris intra-particular diffusion model were also applied to kinetic experimental results. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.