Preparation of green alga-based activated carbon with lower impregnation ratio and less activation time by potassium tartrate for adsorption of chloramphenicol

Potassium tartrate (C 4 H 6 K 2 O 7 ) was utilized as a novel activating agent to prepare activated carbon with relatively high specific surface area by using less activating agent and activation time from marine waste–green alga ( Enteromorpha prolifera ) for the first time. The influences of activation temperature, impregnation ratio and activation time on the pore structure were investigated to obtain the optimum conditions (activation temperature: 700   °C, impregnation ratio: 1:1, and activation time: 30   min). Meanwhile, the activation temperature was evaluated to be the essential factor that dominated the form of pore structure in activated carbon. The green alga-based activated carbon that was prepared under optimum conditions has shown the high surface area of 1692   m 2 /g and total pore volume of 1.22   cm 3 /g, which could be used as an effective adsorbent to remove chloramphenicol. The thermodynamic data of chloramphenicol were well fitted by Langmuir isotherm model and the green alga-based activated carbon has showed high adsorption capacity of 709.2   mg/g towards chloramphenicol.