Competitive adsorption between atrazine and methylene blue on activated carbon: the importance of pore size distribution Original Research Article

A series of phenolic resin-based microporous activated carbon fibers (ACF) were used to determine how pore size distribution influences the nature of the adsorption competition mechanism between the micropollutant, atrazine, and a compound similar in size, methylene blue (MB). Experiments consisted of simultaneous adsorption, dye preloading, and atrazine preloading. Direct competition for adsorption sites is the primary mode when the competing adsorbate can access the same pore size region as the target micropollutant. When only a narrow distribution of primary micropores (pore width <8 Å) is present, simultaneous adsorption and dye preloading greatly impacted atrazine adsorption. Increasing the micropore volume and shifting the pore size distribution into the secondary micropore region (8 Å