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Adsorption of methylene blue onto activated carbon produced from tea (Camellia sinensis L.) seed shells: kinetics, equilibrium, and thermodynamics studies

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Abstract

Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) seed shells, the main byproduct of the manufacture of tea seed oil, were used as precursors for the preparation of tea activated carbon (TAC) in the present study. A high yield (44.1%) of TAC was obtained from tea seed shells via a one-step chemical method using ZnCl2 as an agent. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and the total pore volumes of the obtained TAC were found to be 1 530.67 mg2/g and 0.782 6 cm3/g, respectively. The equilibrium adsorption results were complied with Langmuir isotherm model and its maximum monolayer adsorption capacity was 324.7 mg/g for methylene blue. Adsorption kinetics studies indicated that the pseudo-second-order model yielded the best fit for the kinetic data. An intraparticle diffusion model suggested that the intraparticle diffusion was not the only rate-controlling step. Thermodynamics studies revealed the spontaneous and exothermic nature of the sorption process. These results indicate that tea seed shells could be utilized as a renewable resource to develop activated carbon which is a potential adsorbent for methylene blue.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Tea Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Jun-jie Gao, Tao Zhou, Ping Xu, Danielle Hochstetter & Yue-fei Wang

  2. Crop Management Bureau, Agricultural Department of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310029, China

    Ye-bo Qin

  3. Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 310021, China

    Dong-dong Cao

  4. Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Growth, Development and Quality Improvement, Ministry of Agriculture, Hangzhou, 310029, China

    Yue-fei Wang

Authors
  1. Jun-jie Gao
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  2. Ye-bo Qin
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  3. Tao Zhou
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  4. Dong-dong Cao
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  5. Ping Xu
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  6. Danielle Hochstetter
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  7. Yue-fei Wang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ping Xu or Yue-fei Wang.

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Project supported by the Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province (No. 2010C32051) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (No. 2011BAD01B03-5-1), China

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Gao, Jj., Qin, Yb., Zhou, T. et al. Adsorption of methylene blue onto activated carbon produced from tea (Camellia sinensis L.) seed shells: kinetics, equilibrium, and thermodynamics studies. J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. B 14, 650–658 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B12a0225

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B12a0225

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