Preparation of activated carbon from Zea mays waste for tartrazine removal

Abstract

Currently some research aims to use materials obtained from agricultural waste to manufacture activated carbon for water treatment by removing organic dyes. Few investigations have used corn cob as a precursor for that purpose. The objective of the present investigation was to carry out a process of carbonization and activation of raw and processed (cooked) corn cob separately to obtain four different adsorbent materials. Kinetic sorption tests were performed to assess the ability to remove tartrazine dye from aqueous medium. The experimental results obtained showed that the materials prepared from corn cob are capable to remove tartrazine dye from aqueous media, presenting an alkaline and heterogeneous surface. The material obtained has a significant sorptive capacity, compared to research carried out with other agricultural residues that have been chemically activated, and also its economic and environmental cost is much lower.