Performance evaluation and mechanistic insights into the adsorption of heavy metal ions in water by various carbon materials

Performance evaluation and mechanistic insights into the adsorption of heavy metal ions in water by various carbon materials | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Performance evaluation and mechanistic insights into the adsorption of heavy metal ions in water by various carbon materials Songhui Liu, Ting Wang, Weize Sun, Jingle Chen, Huali Chen This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7656299/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract To develop effective adsorbents for removing trace heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions, four representative carbon materials (activated carbon, N-modified activated carbon, hydroxyl-functionalized carbon nanotubes, and whisker carbon nanotubes) were systematically investigated for their cobalt ion (Co 2+ ) adsorption capabilities. This study comprehensively examines the influence of morphological structure, surface functional groups, and charge properties on adsorption performance. The predominant adsorption mechanisms were elucidated through adsorption models and thermodynamic analyses. Results demonstrate that activated carbon and its N-modified counterpart exhibit superior adsorption capacities for trace Co 2+ , with N-modified activated carbon achieving the highest removal efficiency of approximately 80%. The adsorption process follows the Langmuir isotherm model, indicating monolayer adsorption behavior with exothermic characteristics. Physical adsorption dominates Co 2+ removal by activated carbon and whisker carbon nanotubes, where adsorption capacity correlates with specific surface area and pore volume. In contrast, both physical and chemical adsorption mechanisms operate in N-modified activated carbon and hydroxyl-functionalized carbon nanotubes, with adsorption performance being governed by surface hydroxyl group density. All materials maintained stable adsorption efficiencies (>95% of initial capacity) through three consecutive adsorption-desorption cycles. Notably, N-modified activated carbon demonstrates exceptional versatility in removing other heavy metal ions (Pb 2+ and Cr 6+ ), highlighting its significant potential for practical wastewater treatment applications. Heavy metal ions adsorbent activated carbon carbon nanotubes modification Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7656299","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":542133210,"identity":"b5193a40-87e7-48b1-9029-85bdfe56a654","order_by":0,"name":"Songhui Liu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hangzhou Vocational \u0026 Technical College","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Songhui","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":542133211,"identity":"277ffb4b-40d5-4fb8-90c3-bdd59724c7aa","order_by":1,"name":"Ting 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materials","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Heavy metal ions, adsorbent, activated carbon, carbon nanotubes, modification","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7656299/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7656299/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eTo develop effective adsorbents for removing trace heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions, four representative carbon materials (activated carbon, N-modified activated carbon, hydroxyl-functionalized carbon nanotubes, and whisker carbon nanotubes) were systematically investigated for their cobalt ion (Co\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e) adsorption capabilities. This study comprehensively examines the influence of morphological structure, surface functional groups, and charge properties on adsorption performance. The predominant adsorption mechanisms were elucidated through adsorption models and thermodynamic analyses. Results demonstrate that activated carbon and its N-modified counterpart exhibit superior adsorption capacities for trace Co\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e, with N-modified activated carbon achieving the highest removal efficiency of approximately 80%. The adsorption process follows the Langmuir isotherm model, indicating monolayer adsorption behavior with exothermic characteristics. Physical adsorption dominates Co\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e removal by activated carbon and whisker carbon nanotubes, where adsorption capacity correlates with specific surface area and pore volume. In contrast, both physical and chemical adsorption mechanisms operate in N-modified activated carbon and hydroxyl-functionalized carbon nanotubes, with adsorption performance being governed by surface hydroxyl group density. All materials maintained stable adsorption efficiencies (\u0026gt;95% of initial capacity) through three consecutive adsorption-desorption cycles. Notably, N-modified activated carbon demonstrates exceptional versatility in removing other heavy metal ions (Pb\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e and Cr\u003csup\u003e6+\u003c/sup\u003e), highlighting its significant potential for practical wastewater treatment applications.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Performance evaluation and mechanistic insights into the adsorption of heavy metal ions in water by various carbon materials","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-10 15:12:15","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7656299/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"6ce1633a-3b0a-462f-8d55-8a9a271f2bea","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 10th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-12-01T15:08:54+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-10 15:12:15","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7656299","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7656299","identity":"rs-7656299","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}