Abstract
A large quantity of waste plywood panel for concrete form has been generated with the progress of construction industry and its effective utilization becomes an urgent social problem. In this study, the production of charcoal from waste plywood panel (charcoal W) and its adsorption characteristics of anionic dyes were investigated. The plywood panel was first pulverized as a chip and carbonized under nitrogen atmosphere. The content of metal ions was found to be considerably larger in the charcoal W than in that from virgin panel (charcoal V). The partial graphitization of the charcoal W was proceeded by the catalytic action of the contained metal ions, causing the specific surface area of the charcoal W to became larger than that of the charcoal V. The adsorption isotherms of three anionic dyes were obtained and well treated by the Freundlich adsorption equation. The adsorption ability of acid blue 92 and acid blue 90 with the charcoal W of large molecular size became larger than those of the charcoal V and activated carbon (AC). The charcoal W was also found to have four times more mesopores capacity compared to AC. The charcoal W can be useful in environmental purification as an excellent absorbent.
