Efficient Removal of Pb 2+ from Water by Bamboo-Derived Thin-Walled Hollow Ellipsoidal Carbon-Based Adsorbent.

Lead ion (Pb 2+ ) is one of the most common water pollutants. Herein, with bamboo as the raw material, we fabricate a thin-walled hollow ellipsoidal carbon-based adsorbent (CPCs900) containing abundant O-containing groups and carbon defects and having a specific surface area as large as 730.87 m 2 g -1 . CPCs900 shows a capacity of 37.26 mg g -1 for adsorbing Pb 2+ in water and an efficiency of 98.13% for removing Pb 2+ from water. This is much better than the activated carbon commonly used for removing Pb 2+ from water (12.19 mg g -1 , 30.48%). The bond interaction of Pb 2+ with the O-containing groups on CPCs900 and the electrostatic interaction of Pb 2+ with the electron-rich carbon defects on CPCs900 could be the main forces to drive Pb 2+ adsorption on CPCs900. The outstanding adsorption performance of CPCs900 could be due to the abundant O-containing groups and carbon defects as well as the large specific surface area of CPCs900. Bamboo has a large reserve and a low price. The present work successfully converts bamboo into adsorbents with outstanding performances in removing Pb 2+ from water. This is of great significance for meeting the huge industrial demand on highly efficient adsorbents for removing toxic metal ions from water.