Nitrogen-doped carbons from in-situ glucose-coated ZIF-8 as efficient adsorbents for Rhodamine B removal from wastewater

The development of new adsorbents for dye-bearing water treatment attracted significant attention. Here, N-doped carbons were obtained by carbonization of partially dehydrated glucose-coated ZIF-8 at 1000 degrees C via changing glucose mass in hydrothermal system. The structure and removal performance for Rhodamine B (RhB) were studied. The as-made carbon samples exhibited surface areas in the ranges of 850-1200 m(2)/g and restrained N-species loss from ZIF-8 because of further polymerization outside surface, making them with high N-species and good removal performance. Adsorption kinetics indicated that the sample of GZC-10 exhibited the largest adsorbed amount of 283 mg/g at 25 degrees C under initial concentration of 300 mg/L as equilibrium time up to 240 min, and pseudo-second order model could be well used to describe diffusion for RhB molecules. Isotherms indicated that Langmuir model expressed a better conformity than Freundlich model with the maximum adsorbed RhB amount of 383 mg/g, much larger than that of other reported MOF-derived carbons. All results indicated that the present carbons were efficient in water treatment considering the satisfactory performance i.e. high adsorption capacity, fast kinetic, and good wettability.

Automated summary

The study developed nitrogen-doped carbons through changing glucose mass in a hydrothermal system and investigated their removal performance for Rhodamine B. The results showed that these carbon materials exhibited high adsorption capacity, fast kinetics, and good wettability, making them suitable for water treatment.