Valorization of orange peels through the production of eco-friendly, highly effective adsorbents for herbicides based on one-step CO₂-activation under conventional/microwave heating

The archived data were gathered within the research project titled ‘Wpływ złożonej modyfikacji fizykochemicznej środowiska glebowego na mobilność metali, metaloidów i herbicydów - badania laboratoryjne’, eng. ‘The impact of complex physicochemical modification of the soil environment on the mobility of metals, metalloids and herbicides - laboratory tests’, financed by the National Science Centre, Poland as part of the project under the OPUS 21 call (project no. 2021/41/B/NZ9/03059).The primary objective of this study was to develop new activated carbons from orange wastes through one-step pyrolysis process coupled with direct CO₂ activation for the removal of herbicides and polymers from aqueous solutions. An attempt was made to valorize troublesome waste by transforming it into materials helpful in the remediation of water-soil environments. The study compared the adsorption capacity and physicochemical properties of carbonaceous materials produced using conventional and microwave-assisted processes, examined pollutant adsorption mechanisms, and evaluated pollutant binding strength in single and mixed systems. The study showed mechanisms by which pollutants were adsorbed onto the materials. Experimental data were fitted to numerous theoretical models. To determine the strength of herbicides binding, desorption measurements were conducted in three cycles. Additionally, the evaluation of the phytotoxicity towards cress (L. sativum) was made.The research was conducted in the period from 1st January 2024 till 9th May 2025 at the Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences in Lublin (Poland) as well as Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (Poland). The collection contains the results of studies on: (1) characteristics of orange peels wastes, as well as biochars and activated carbons obtained from them, (2) adsorption studies of herbicides: diuron and glyphosate (also in the mixed systems with copper, cadmium, arsenic and selenium), and polymers: bacterial exopolysaccharide (EPS), cationic polyacrylamide (CtPAM), and anionic polyacrylamide (AnPAM) on selected materials, including adsorption mechanisms of herbicides and polymers on the selected materials, (3) complexation studies of herbicides by polymers, (4) studies of herbicides desorption from the surface of the selected activated carbon with water or polymers washing solutions, and (5) evaluation of the ecotoxicity of the developed material and its effects on the growth of cress (L. sativum) in environments containing herbicides. ​The attached files have been compressed to *.zip format. The dataset consists of the following files:1) character.zip – raw data on the determination of textural parameters (nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherm, specific surface area, porosity, pore size distribution), morphology, and chemical characterization (potentiometric titration (for surface charge density, and point of zero charge calculations), elemental composition, ash content, boehm titration, XPS spectrum, pH measurements) of precursors and materials obtained from them, and data from literature that were used in van Kravelen diagram preparation (.odt, .xlsx, .tiff, .txt).2) ads.zip – raw data on the measurements of adsorbed amounts of herbicides (diuron and glyphosate) and EPS, CtPAM, AnPAM polymers in various combinations, FTIR analysis of the material after adsorption of polymers or herbicides, as well as potentiometric titration of the material in presence of polymers (.xlsx).3) complex.zip – raw data on complexation of herbicides by polymers (.xlsx).4) des.zip – raw data of the desorption studies of herbicides from the material surface in the systems with or without polymers (.xlsx).5) cress.zip – raw photographs and root length data of cress (L. sativum) grown under different treatments (.jpg; .xlsx);6) readme.txt - contains explanations of the abbreviations used and descriptions of the measurement conditions.The data was compiled on the basis of laboratory tests.The results presented in file „character” were obtained using the following research equipment: nitrogen adsorption/desorption analyzer SI Quadrasorb (Quantachrome Instruments), scanning electron microscope (Phenom ProX, Pik Instruments), automatic titrator Titrino 702 SM (Metrohm), CHNS/O analyzer (2400 Series II CHNS/O Elemental Analyzer (Perkin Elemer), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) (UHV surface analysis system (SPECS)), CP-401 pH-meter (Elmetron) equipped with EPS-1 glass electrode.The results presented in file „ads” were obtained using the following research equipment: total organic carbon (TOC) analyzer (Multi N/C 2000, HT 1300, Analytik Jena), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC, Dionex Ultimate 3000, Thermo Scientific), Specord 200 PLUS spectrophotometer (Analytik Jena), automatic titrator Titrino 702 SM (Metrohm), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) (Tensor27, Bruker Germany), with a linear baseline correction performed using OMNIC (v.8.2, Thermo Scientific).The results presented in file „complex” were obtained using the following research equipment: high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC, Dionex Ultimate 3000, Thermo Scientific), Specord 200 PLUS spectrophotometer (Analytik Jena).The results presented in file „des” were obtained using the following research equipment: an high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC, Dionex Ultimate 3000, Thermo Scientific), Specord 200 PLUS spectrophotometer (Analytik Jena).The results presented in file “cress” were obtained with smartphone camera and calliper rule.