Approaches to control competitive adsorption of DOM and SOC by activated carbons

Activated carbon is widely used for removal of micropollutants, taste and odor compounds, and dissolved natural organic matter (DOM) from water. DOM is ubiquitous in natural waters which results in competitive adsorption of DOM and synthetic organic contaminants (SOC) by activated carbons in water treatment applications. The optimum adsorption zone of a SOC with respect to the adsorption zone of DOM components in carbon pores play an important role in terms of competitive adsorption between DOM and SOC. For example, trichloroethylene (TCE) mainly adsorbed in pore region of 5-8 Å, while the majority of DOM molecules did not adsorb in pores < 10 Å. A carbon fiber with over 90% of its surface area distributed in pores < 10 Å exhibited minimal competition effect of DOM on TCE adsorption under preloading conditions. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 231th ACS National Meeting (Atlanta, GA 3/26-30/2006).