Application of sodium dodecyl sulfate and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide-modified activated carbon for removal of PAHs from peanut oil

Surfactants have the potential to provide orders of magnitude more surface activity to activated carbon due to their hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups. To make modified activated carbon, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) were utilized. When peanut oil was treated with 0.1% adsorbent, the removal efficiency of PAH4 (benzo [a]pyrene, benzo [a]anthracene, benzo [b]fluoranthene, and chrysene) by prepared CTAB-AC increased from 82.79% to 93.23% compared to the unmodified activated carbon, and the retention efficiency of VE and phytosterols increased from 152.11 μg/g and 118.56 mg/100 g to 155.64 μg/g and 189.03 mg/100 g, respectively. The removal efficiency of PAH4 treated by SDS-AC increased by 10.67% at 0.1%, while the retention efficiency of VE and phytosterols increased by 19.02% and 56.89% (91.62% removal efficiency of PAH4 and 181.04 μg/g and 186.01 mg/100 g retention efficiencies for the contents of VE and phytosterols). Thus, surfactant-modified activated carbon could be a promising adsorption material for the removal of PAHs from oil.