Characterization and dye adsorption effectiveness of activated carbon synthesized from olive pomace

Studies, about products obtained from agricultural wastes, have increased within the scope of zero waste studies. The olive pomace is produced as a result of olive oil production. In the present study, activated carbon was synthesized using the olive pomace taken from the olive pomace processing plant operating with a three-phase process. The synthesized activated carbon characterization was performed using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Brunauer – Emmett – Teller (BET), and X-Ray Crystallography (XRD) devices. Olive pomace activated carbon (OPAC) was used for the adsorption of dye from an aqueous solution. The adsorption efficiency of the OPAC was investigated. The initial pH value of dye solution (6–9), the amount of activated carbon (0.5 and 1.0 g/L), and initial dye concentration (600–1200 mg/L) were optimized. Also, adsorption kinetic and isotherm calculations were evaluated. The optimum parameters were found as the original pH value (pH=8) of dye solutions, OPAC amount of 1.0 g/L and the initial concentration of 1000 mg/L. The Langmuir isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model were found as the most suitable models. It can be said that the synthesized material can be used at dye removing from wastewater.