Utilization of coal-based sorbents and their fabrication into carbon nanomaterials for the removal of organics from wastewater

• Main Author: Langwenya, Siphiwe P.
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Sorbents; Nanostructured materials; Carbon; Water purification; Coal absorption and adsorption; Organic compounds removal
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3630

M.Sc. === With increasing industrial activities in South Africa, many of its waters are contaminated with both organic and inorganic pollutants. This is also a worldwide challenge which has resulted in an escalation in research efforts to combat it. Organic pollutants, for example, can be harmful to human health and the environment. Even when present at low concentrations, they tend to bio-accumulate and interact with endocrine systems. Therefore it is necessary that these pollutants are removed from effluents before they are integrated with water systems such as rivers and lakes. In an effort to utilize economic and efficient removal techniques, low cost and locally available materials have been used as potential adsorbents for the removal of these organic pollutants from synthetic wastewater. These coal-based materials were further fabricated into nanoporous sorbents through activation processes to improve their adsorption properties. The project reported in this dissertation was thus undertaken to explore, specifically, the efficacy of coal and coal-based sorbents (acid treated coal, activated carbon and activated fly ash) in their ability to remove phenolic compounds from wastewater.