Using Tectona Grandis Biomass to Produce Valuable Adsorbents for Pesticide Removal from Liquid Effluent

• Autor(a) principal: Cansado, I.P.P.
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Mourão, P.A.M., Belo, C.R.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10174/33164; https://doi.org/Cansado, I.P.P, Mourão, P.A.M. Belo, C.R., Using Tectona Grandis Biomass to Produce Valuable Adsorbents for Pesticide Removal from Liquid Effluent, Materials, 2022, 15(17), 5842 - 5857. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15175842; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15175842
• topic: Tectona; Pesticides; Adsorbents

This work presents a first approach concerning the valorization of Tectona Grandis tree by-products, from East Timor through their transformation into high activated carbon (AC) by chemical activation with KOH and K2CO3. The better ACs, Teak-KOH-1-1-700 and Teak-K2CO3-1-2-700, presented a high ABET (995 and 1132 m2·g−1) and micropore volume (0.43 and 0.5 cm3·g−1), respectively. Both ACs were tested on the removal of four pesticides, from the liquid phase. Both ACs performed better than existing commercial types, presenting a maximum adsorption capacity of 1.88, 1.67, 1.10 and 0.89 mmol·g−1, for 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, diuron and atrazine, respectively. Pesticide adsorption from diluted and concentrated solutions confirms that diffusion is the limiting factor. The possibility of implementing a production unit for ACs in East Timor is very promising for that country. It presents an opportunity for job creation, biomass waste reduction and a contribution to environmental sustainability, thereby following the principles of a circular economy. Keywords: Tectona Grandis; East Timor; activated carbon; chemical activation; pesticide removal; circular economy