Removal of Methylene Blue from water using nitric acid modified corn cob derived activated carbon: synthesis, characterization, kinetics, and isotherm study

Removal of Methylene Blue from water using nitric acid modified corn cob derived activated carbon: synthesis, characterization, kinetics, and isotherm study | 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 Article Removal of Methylene Blue from water using nitric acid modified corn cob derived activated carbon: synthesis, characterization, kinetics, and isotherm study Yingjie Wang, Xingjia Gu, Aikelaimu Aihemaiti, Yao He, Qiaozhen Liu, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9005834/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 19 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study utilized corn cob as the raw material and HNO 3 as the activator to prepare carbon materials through high-temperature carbonization and activation processes. An orthogonal experimental design was employed to optimize the preparation conditions for corn cob based activated carbon, examining the effects of solid-liquid ratio, activation time, activation temperature, and carbonization temperature on the properties of the resultant porous carbon materials. The optimal preparation conditions were determined based on the adsorption performance of the carbon materials for methylene blue in simulated wastewater. The results indicated that a solid-liquid ratio of 1, an activation temperature of 1123 K, an activation time of 90 min, a carbonization temperature of 723 K yielded the best adsorption performance for methylene blue, with an adsorption capacity of 40.78 mg/g, The yield of activated carbon is about 29.53%. Furthermore, the activated carbon prepared under these optimal conditions was analyzed using SEM, BET, XRD, and FTIR. The surface exhibited a rich pore structure,, with a Langmuir specific surface area of 510.0303 m 2 /g and a significant presence of oxygen-containing functional groups, which are critical for the exceptional adsorption performance of this carbon material. The adsorption properties of activated carbon for Methylene Blue(MB)were investigated, focusing on the effects of adsorption time and temperature on adsorption efficiency. The kinetic study revealed the characteristics of the adsorption process, indicating that the quasi-second order kinetic model more accurately describes the adsorption behavior. The adsorption thermodynamic analysis confirmed that the adsorption process of MB onto corn cob-based activated carbon in simulated wastewater is endothermic, accompanied by an increase in entropy and a decrease in Gibbs free energy, suggesting that the process is spontaneous under isothermal and isobaric conditions. This study holds both theoretical and practical significance for the application and development of corn cob activated carbon in treating industrial wastewater containing organic dyes. Physical sciences/Chemistry Physical sciences/Engineering Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Physical sciences/Materials science Corn cob Activated carbon Orthogonal experiment Adsorption MB Dynamics Thermodynamics Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files GraphicalAbstract.docx DeclarationofInterestStatement.docx Highlights.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 26 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 25 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 25 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 24 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 24 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 21 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 19 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 18 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 16 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 16 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 15 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 15 Mar, 2026 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. 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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-9005834","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":607864896,"identity":"aa0c6371-034d-444b-9650-fad468181f06","order_by":0,"name":"Yingjie Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Kashi University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yingjie","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":607864899,"identity":"1d994295-e4c9-4fb0-b83e-2c564b37b532","order_by":1,"name":"Xingjia Gu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Kashi 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An orthogonal experimental design was employed to optimize the preparation conditions for corn cob based activated carbon, examining the effects of solid-liquid ratio, activation time, activation temperature, and carbonization temperature on the properties of the resultant porous carbon materials. The optimal preparation conditions were determined based on the adsorption performance of the carbon materials for methylene blue in simulated wastewater. The results indicated that a solid-liquid ratio of 1, an activation temperature of 1123 K, an activation time of 90 min, a carbonization temperature of 723 K yielded the best adsorption performance for methylene blue, with an adsorption capacity of 40.78 mg/g, The yield of activated carbon is about 29.53%. Furthermore, the activated carbon prepared under these optimal conditions was analyzed using SEM, BET, XRD, and FTIR. 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