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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Sustainable amorphous porous carbon for efficient removal of industrial dyes

Dayane G. Domingos1* ,  Beatriz Lima Santos Klienchen Dalari2 ,  Marina C. de Moraes1 ,  Antonio I. Ramos Filho3 ,  Luís A. M. Ruotolo4 ,  Maria Ángeles Lobo-Recio1 ,  Maria Eliza Nagel-Hassemer1
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1 Department of Environmental Engineering, Center of Technological Sciences (CTC), Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
2 Department of Environmental and Sanitary Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Vale do Itajaí (UNIVALI), Itajaí, Santa Catarina, Brazil
3 Department of Materials Engineering, Center of Technological Sciences (CTC), Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
4 Department of Chemical Engineering, Center for Exact Sciences and Technology (CCET), Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil
JES, 025320016 https://doi.org/10.36922/JES025320016
Received: 7 August 2025 | Revised: 25 September 2025 | Accepted: 9 October 2025 | Published online: 30 October 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Cork, a porous biopolymer, is composed of hollow prismatic cells with thin walls arranged in a compact honeycomb-like structure, making it a promising material for adsorption applications. In this study, cork-derived activated carbon (CAC) was synthesized through pyrolysis followed by chemical activation using solid potassium hydroxide, with the aim of producing an efficient adsorbent for the removal of industrial dyes. The structure, morphology, and functional groups of the CAC were characterized using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. BET surface area analysis revealed a high specific surface area of 1,793 m2/g, favoring strong adsorption capacity. Batch and fixed-bed column experiments were conducted to evaluate the adsorption performance toward two representative dyes: Methylene blue (MB) and reactive red (RR). The pseudo-second-order kinetic model accurately described the adsorption behavior, while the Langmuir isotherm model indicated monolayer adsorption for MB, and the Freundlich model better fitted the heterogeneous adsorption of RR. The maximum adsorption capacities (qm) were 250 mg/g and 105 mg/g for MB and RR, respectively. Overall, the results demonstrate that the produced CAC exhibits high adsorption efficiency and holds significant potential for application in industrial effluent remediation and the treatment of water contaminated with persistent dye compounds.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
Activated carbon
Adsorption
Cork
Industrial effluents
Funding
This study was funded by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) through a doctoral scholarship (CNPq 142083/2019-4). The funders had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, or decision to publish.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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