Dominant Properties of Activated Carbon Fiber for the Adsorptive Removal of Trichloroethylene in Liquid Phase

Abstract

Contamination of groundwater by volatile chlorinated hydrocarbons is a serious problem today all over our country. In this paper, the adsorptive removal of trichloroethylene (TCE), one of the major contaminants, onto activated carbon fibers (ACFs) in liquid phase was investigated focusing on adsorption isotherms. The adsorption capacity of ACF was larger than that of granular activated carbon (GAC). The adsorption isotherms of TCE onto ACFs and GAC were of Freundlich-type. The amount of TCE adsorbed was inversely proportional to the pore volume, the specific surface area of ACFs, as well as the amount of water adsorbed onto ACFs in gaseous phase. It is considered that the more hydrophobic is the surface of ACF, the larger is the amount of TCE adsorbed onto ACFs in liquid phase.