Effective removal of anilines using porous activated carbon based on ureaformaldehyde resin

The effective removal of aniline and its derivatives from wastewater is very important due to the high toxicity. Adsorption with a high-performance adsorbent is an efficient pathway. A novel activated carbon, ACUF-700, was synthesized using homemade ureaformaldehyde resin as the major carbon source carbonized at 700 A degrees C. ACUF-700 is characterized by surface area analyzer, FTIR, elemental analyzer, and SEM. The adsorption properties of ACUF-700 towards anilines are also investigated by using batch methods. The test results showed that the ACUF-700 possesses higher specific surface area and narrower pore size distribution. In virtue of its developed pore structure and nitrogencontaining chemical groups, the adsorption capacities towards aniline, p-toluidine and p-chloroaniline could reach 95.6, 108.1 and 128.9mg/g, respectively. The adsorption process could be well described by the intra-particle mass transfer diffusion model and Sips model. Besides, ACUF700 was regenerated easily using diluted hydrochloric acid solution as eluent and ACUF700 possesses better reusability.