Chemically activated carbon on a fiberglass substrate for removal of trace atrazine from water

Chemically activated fiber (CAF) for removal of trace atrazine from water was prepared by coating fiberglass assemblies with a phenolic resin along with a chemical activation agent of ZnCl₂, then stabilization and heat treatment in N₂ at 500 °C. The carbon on the CAF shows similar BET surface area and volumes of narrow micropores (<10 Å), higher volumes of wide micropores (10-20 Å) and narrow mesopores (20-50 Å), as compared with a commercially available GAC F-400. Adsorption isotherm data show that the CAF has a higher adsorption capacity for atrazine than the GAC, primarily because the CAF has an increased pore (10-50 Å) volume. The breakthrough tests show that the CAF filter is ten times more effective over the GAC filter in removing the atrazine to below the current USEPA standard of 3 ppb. The CAF filter also shows a better competitive adsorption of atrazine over the GAC filter in the presence of 50 times higher concentration of humic acid. Such a filter can be regenerated to 90% of its original activity by heating at 350 °C in air.