Kinetic and Isothermal Investigation on the Excellent Adsorption Removal of Dibenzothiophene from Model Fuel over MnO/Activated Carbon Composite

A blend of polymer wastes viz. polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and waste tire rubber (WTR), was implemented to create a novel activated carbon (AC) using KOH-activation. The AC was then applied in synthesizing the MnO/AC composite. The typical adsorbents were identified using XRD, BET surface area, pore volume, EDX, and FESEM. The adsorbents were employed to expel dibenzothiophene (DBT) from model fuel (200 ppm DBT in n-hexane). The adsorptive desulfurization (ADS) of 25 mL of model fuel by the AC amounted to 99.27% at 30°C for 15 min, and 0.35 g of the AC. At the same time, the MnO/AC composite exhibited the superlative extraction of DBT from the model fuel employing 0.35 g MnO/AC composite at 30°C for a 30 min extraction period. The adsorption consequences fitted best to the Freundlich model rather than the other models, whereas the pseudo-2^nd-order kinetic averred the adsorption kinetics better than other models. The produced adsorbents were recoverable and thermally stable, resulting in a high elimination efficiency up to the 5 cycles of reuse. In conclusion, the said blend of waste polymers could be implemented as a low-cost and potentially valuable feedstock for producing effective adsorbents for desulfurizing transportation fuel.