High-capacity petroleum coke–derived activated carbon for bisphenol A and carbamazepine removal: Fixed-bed operation, regeneration, and mechanistic insights

Tang, Xinhui, Zhang, Liyuan, Zheng, Yongbiao, Hu, Xinjian, Ji, Xinghui, Ao, Dong and Wang, Ning 2026. High-capacity petroleum coke–derived activated carbon for bisphenol A and carbamazepine removal: Fixed-bed operation, regeneration, and mechanistic insights. Journal of Water Process Engineering 89 , 110289. 10.1016/j.jwpe.2026.110289

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Abstract

Efficient removal of emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) remains a major challenge in water treatment. In this study, petroleum coke was upcycled into a highly porous activated carbon (PCAC) through KOH activation and applied for the adsorption of bisphenol A (BPA) and carbamazepine (CBZ). PCAC exhibited an high BET surface area of 2576.17 m2·g−1 and a micro–mesoporous structure, providing abundant accessible adsorption sites. The maximum adsorption capacities reached 1689.44 mg·g−1 for BPA and 961.54 mg·g−1 for CBZ, outperforming many reported carbon-based adsorbents. Kinetic and isotherm analyses suggested rapid chemisorption-involved uptake. Post-adsorption pore analysis revealed a substantial loss of N2-accessible porosity, confirming pore filling and pore occupation as the dominant adsorption mechanism. Spectroscopic and DFT calculation evidence further indicated that π-π interactions and hydrogen bonding contributed to molecular retention. In fixed-bed experiments, PCAC achieved breakthrough times of 15.8 h for BPA and 11.5 h for CBZ and maintained effective removal in a real wastewater matrix. After five regeneration cycles, more than 70% of the initial adsorption capacity was retained. These findings demonstrate that petroleum coke-derived activated carbon is a high-capacity, regenerable, and practically promising adsorbent for continuous removal of aromatic EOCs from water.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Physics and Astronomy
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	2214-7144
Date of Acceptance:	23 May 2026
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 09:18
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/187570

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