Porous carbon is the most important and most common adsorbent for the separation and treatment of organic pollutants. Characteristics such as accessible and large surface area, physical and chemical stability, and low-cost manufacturing method are desired for any adsorbent. Herein, a hierarchically porous carbon (HPC) was prepared by pyrolysis and graphitization of crystalline metal–organic frameworks (MOF-5) for enhanced adsorption of aromatic contaminants. The material treated at high temperature (950 °C) possesses large surface area (1512 m²/g), high porosity (0.94 cm³/g), and hierarchically porous structures. The generated mesopores around 4 nm improve the interconnectivity of micro- and macropores to make the porous material ideal for sorption of organic pollutants such as aromatic hydrocarbons. Effects of adsorbent dose, pH, ionic strength, contact time, and initial concentration on the adsorption of p-nitrophenol (PNP, as a model) were investigated. Adsorption isotherms and kinetics suggest that the adsorption is a spontaneous and endothermic physisorption process with monolayer surface coverage. The surface sites are electron-rich due to the graphitic layer, which has high affinity toward π electrons of the aromatic ring. The adsorption capacity of the hierarchically porous carbon (HPC) is nearly over 100% higher that of conventional activated carbon.

多孔碳是分离和处理有机污染物的最重要和最常见的吸附剂。任何吸附剂都需要诸如可及的大表面积，物理和化学稳定性以及低成本制造方法等特性。在这里，通过热解和石墨化晶体金属-有机骨架（MOF-5）来制备分层多孔碳（HPC），以增强对芳香族污染物的吸附。经高温（950°C）处理的材料具有大表面积（1512 m ² / g），高孔隙率（0.94 cm ^3）/ g），以及分层的多孔结构。大约4 nm处产生的中孔改善了微孔和大孔的互连性，使多孔材料非常适合吸附有机污染物（例如芳烃）。研究了吸附剂量，pH，离子强度，接触时间和初始浓度对对硝基苯酚（PNP，作为模型）的吸附的影响。吸附等温线和动力学表明吸附是具有单层表面覆盖的自发和吸热的物理吸附过程。由于石墨层，表面位点是富电子的，其对芳环的π电子具有高亲和力。分层多孔碳（HPC）的吸附能力比常规活性炭高近100％。