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eISSN: 2083-5906
ISSN: 1230-1485
ISSN: 1230-1485
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Novel Composites Based on Yeast-Activated
Carbon, Silica, and Alginate for Removal of
Phenol from Aqueous Medium: Kinetic Study
1
University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Agronomy Čačak, Laboratory for Technological Processes Control
and Sustainable Development, Čačak, Serbia
2
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Agriculture, Belgrade, Serbia
3
University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technology Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
Submission date: 2025-10-29
Final revision date: 2025-12-30
Acceptance date: 2026-02-27
Online publication date: 2026-06-03
Corresponding author
Milan P. Nikolić
University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Agronomy Čačak, Laboratory for Technological Processes Control and Sustainable Development, Čačak, Serbia
University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Agronomy Čačak, Laboratory for Technological Processes Control and Sustainable Development, Čačak, Serbia
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
In the present study, the adsorption of phenol from aqueous solution was performed by using
activated carbons obtained from the pyrolysis of S. cerevisiae biomass and new composites obtained
by immobilization of activated carbon in an alginate and silica-alginate support. The properties
of adsorbents were tested by removing phenol from water in a batch process. The effects of contact
time, number of adsorption cycles, and leaching of organic matter from composites were studied.
The efficiency of phenol removal using activated carbons increased with the rise of activation
temperature, ranging from 92.4% to 97.1%. The immobilization of activated carbon
into silica-alginate gel has significant advantages compared to its immobilization into silica or alginate
gel. The microstructure of the silica-alginate-activated carbon composite is strongly influenced by the
alginate-silica weight ratio, resulting in different phenol removal kinetics and saturation capacities.
The kinetics of the adsorption process were found to follow the pseudo-second-order kinetic model.
The utilization of an alginate-activated carbon composite or a silica-alginate-activated carbon composite
(the latter with an alginate-silica weight ratio of 2:1) resulted in external diffusion limitations.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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| ISSN: | 1230-1485 |
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