Removal of nitrate from aqueous solution using activated carbon modified with Fenton reagents.

In this study, we modified a commercial granular activated carbon (GAC) with Fenton reagents (Fe2+ and H2O2) using a chemical activation approach. The modified granular activated carbon (MGAC) was characterized using SEM, BET, and EDX techniques and used as an adsorbent for removal of nitrate (NO3) from aqueous solution in batch experiments. Various factors affecting the uptake behavior including ratio of Fe2+ to H2O2, pH, contact time, adsorbent dose, initial nitrate concentration, and desorption behavior were investigated. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 43.1 mg/g at equilibrium time of 60 min. Experimental data were fully described by pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models with high correlation coefficient. Under obtained optimum conditions, the MGAC shows higher removal efficiency compared to a GAC adsorbent. Ultimately, MGAC can be applied as an efficient and promising agent for nitrate adsorption in aqueous solutio