AUTHOR=Tian Run , Liu Yang , Cao Danyu , Gai Lili , Du Nan , Yin Jiangyu , Hu Dongbin , Lu Haiqin , Li Wen , Li Kai TITLE=Preparation of highly efficient p-doped porous camellia shell-based activated carbon and its adsorption of carotenoids in camellia oil JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition VOLUME=9 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.1058025 DOI=10.3389/fnut.2022.1058025 ISSN=2296-861X ABSTRACT=

The vegetable oil industry is limited by the high cost of the refining process, and the camellia shells (CS) are beneficial to the development of the industry as a biomass raw material for camellia oil decolorization. In this study, CS-based p-doped porous activated carbon (CSHAC) obtained after the pyrolysis of H3PO4-laden CS-hydrochar (CSH) was used for the adsorption of carotenoids in camellia oil. The results showed that the adsorption efficiency of CSHAC for carotenoids was 96.5% compared to 67–87% for commercial decolorizers, and exhibited a fast adsorption rate (20 min). The results of adsorption isotherms indicated that the adsorption of carotenoids on CSHAC occurred through a multi-layer process. Furthermore, the analysis of adsorption kinetics showed that the adsorption of carotenoids by CSHAC was a complex process involving physical and chemical reactions, and chemisorption was the dominant kinetic mechanism. This superior performance of CSHAC in adsorbing carotenoids was attributed to its micro-mesoporous structure, hydrophobicity, and numerous active sites.