Ordered mesoporous carbons (OMC) with varying pore sizes were synthesized using ordered mesoporous silica SBA-15 as hard templates. N2 adsorption tests show that the synthesized OMCs possess abundant mesopores with a centralized mesopore distribution. Nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE) was used as a probe molecule to investigate its adsorption behavior on OMC. As evidenced by adsorption tests, the isotherms of NPE on OMC could be well simulated by a Langmuir adsorption model. The surface area of a pore larger than 1.5 nm, was found to be a crucial factor for the adsorption capacity of NPE, while the most probable pore diameter of OMC was found to be vital to the adsorption rate of NPE. Results also show that adsorption temperature has larger effects on adsorption rate than adsorption capacity. Theoretical studies show that the adsorption kinetics of NPE on OMC can be well depicted by using a pseudo-second-order kinetic model.

Key words: adsorption, mesoporous carbon, mesoporous silica, adsorption isotherm, adsorption kinetics