The adsorption mechanism and rapid screening of activated carbon for 2-methylisoborneol adsorption

The adsorption capacity of 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB) on activated carbon (AC) does not correlate with that of natural organic matter (NOM) because the adsorption property of each organic compound depends on the surface condition of AC such as pore size distribution, oxygen content and the type and number of surface functional groups. Here it was shown that the adsorption capacity of 2-MIB on AC did not correlate with that of NOM as measured by surrogate parameter of ultraviolet absorbance at 260 nm (UVA 260) in environmental water, and therefore, the adsorption mechanism was examined. Additionally, the adsorption mechanism of 2-MIB on AC was studied in distilled water, prepared according to the Japanese Standard Method. The 2-MIB adsorption mechanism was estimated from three types of adsorption isotherms (Freundlich, Langmuir and Temkin) based on the concordance between the adsorption isotherms and experimental adsorption data. Furthermore, adsorption isotherm confidence regions were estimated from the three adsorption isotherms based on statistical analysis and used for the rapid screening of AC for 2-MIB adsorption.