Adsorption of Pyrene onto the Agricultural By-Product: Corncob

The adsorption behavior of pyrene on corncob was studied to provide a theoretical basis for the possible use of this material as an immobilized carrier for improving the bioremediation of PAH-contaminated soil. The results were as follows. Kinetic experiments showed that the adsorption processes obeyed a pseudo-second-order model. The intraparticle diffusion of Weber–Morris model fitting showed that the film and intraparticle diffusions were the key rate-limiting processes, and the adsorption process mainly consisted of three steps: boundary layer diffusion and two intra-particle diffusions. Experimental adsorption data for pyrene were successfully described by the adsorption–partition equilibrium model. The maximum adsorption capacity at 25°C was 214.8 μg g−1. The adsorption contribution decreased significantly when the Ce/Sw (the equilibrium concentration/solubility in water) was higher than 1. Adsorption decreased with increased temperature. Based on the above results, the corncob particles could be helpful in the bioremediation of pyrene-contaminated soil.