Jaranan wood (Lannea coromandelica)-derived porous carbon and its performance for anionic surfactant adsorption

Alkylbenzene sulfonates (ABS) is used widely in many industrial and commercial products as surfactants. However, their appearance could cause side effects when released to the environment without treatment. Adsorption method using porous carbon is one of the effective methods to reduce its presence in nature. The aim of this research is to investigate the characters and performances of new type of porous carbon of Jaranan wood carbon (Lannea coromandelica) for ABS removal. Commercial carbon from coconut shell was also used as a comparison. Porous carbons were characterized using scanning electron microscopy SEM and N2-sorption analyzer. From characterizations, Jaranan wood carbon obtained a higher specific surface area (ca. 1080 m2 g-1) than the commercial one (ca. 974 m2 g-1). In the ABS removal test, a lower temperature adsorption is more favorable. The performance of Jaranan wood carbon is comparable to that of commercial porous carbon with uptake capacity up to 3036 mg g-1 carbon at 30 °C. © 2020 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland.