β-carotene rejection mechanism from organic medium by using activated carbon produced from waste biomass apricot

The present paper deals with the study of adsorption of beta-carotene in tetrahydrofuran solution on activated carbon. Activated carbon was prepared from apricot waste, which is a by-product of apricot processing by means of chemical activation with ZnCl2. BET surface area of activated carbon was measured to be 1060m(2) g(-1). The effect of adsorption time, percentage of activated carbon in beta-carotene solution, and beta-carotene concentration on adsorption efficiency was also determined. Results were analyzed by the Langmiur, Freundlich, Dubinin-Redushkevich (D-R), Temkin, Frumkin, Harkins-Jura, Halse, Henderson, and Henry isotherms with linearized correlation coefficient. The characteristic parameters for each isotherm have also been determined. The kinetics of beta-carotene adsorption has been discussed by the pseudo-first-order model, the pseudo-second-order model, the Elovich equation, the intraparticle diffusion model, the Bangham equation, and the modified Freundlich equation. Three error analysis methods of residual mean square error (RMSE), chi-square statistic ((2)), and the average percentage error (% APE) have been used.