Unlocking the Potential of Chemically Modified Carbon Gels in Gallic Acid Adsorption

Abstract

This study deals with the preparation of adsorbents from a commercial xerogel by chemically modifying its surface with concentrated mineral acids and alkali metal chlorides, their physicochemical characterization, and their use as adsorbents for gallic acid in aqueous solution. Although there are publications on the use of carbon xerogels as adsorbents, we propose and study simple modifications that can change their chemical properties and, therefore, their performance as adsorbents. The adsorbate of choice is gallic acid and, to our knowledge, there is no history of its adsorption with carbon xerogels. The prepared adsorbents have a high specific surface area (347–563 m2 g−1), better pore development for samples treated with alkali metal chlorides than with mineral acids, and are more acidic than the initial xerogel (p.z.c range 2.49–6.87 vs. 7.20). The adsorption equilibrium is reached in <16 h with a kinetic constant between 0.018 and 0.035 h−1 for the pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption capacity, according to the Langmuir model, reaches 62.89 to 83.33 mg g−1. The adsorption properties of the commercial xerogel improved over a wide range of pH values and temperatures. The experimental results indicate that the adsorption process is thermodynamically favored.