Regeneration of waste activated carbon after extracting gold with steam under microwave heating:Optimization using response surface methodology

The technology that waste activated carbon after extracting gold is regenerated with steam under microwave heating was studied. The influence of the activation temperature, activation duration and steam flow rate on iodine adsorption value and regeneration yield of activated carbon was investigated. The response surface methodology （RSM） technique was utilized to optimize the process conditions. The optimum conditions for the preparation of activated carbon are identified to be activation temperature of 831 ℃, activation duration of 40 min and steam flow rate of 2.67 mL/min. The optimum conditions result in an activated carbon with an iodine number of 1048 mg/g and a yield of 40%, and the BET surface area evaluated using nitrogen adsorption isotherm is 1493 m2/g, with total pore volume of 1.242 cm3/g. And the pore structure of activated carbon regenerated is mainly composed of micropores and a small amount of mesopores.

Heteroatomic Modification of Solid-Waste-Based Mesoporous Carbon for Volatile Organic Compound Adsorption

Solid-waste-based activated carbon(AC)was utilized as a carbon source to synthesize a series of carbon-based functional material RAC-X(X=P and S,where P and S denote phosphoric and sulfuric acids,respectively).The toluene adsorption capacities of the regeneration AC(RAC)samples can be significantly improved by adopting the heteroatomic modification strategy.RAC-P and RAC-S have the same specific surface area(1156 m^(2)/g)and similar porous structures.However,they have different toluene adsorption capacities,with 316.22 mg/g for RAC-P and 460.12 mg/g for RAC-S,which are 1.6 and 2.4 times greater than that for RAC.The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements showed that the increase in the amount ofπ–π^(2)chemical bond over the AC surface results in the improvement of the toluene adsorption performance.The density functional theory results showed that the S-containing functional groups loaded near the defect sites of RAC-S promote toluene adsorption.Moreover,reusability tests showed that RAC-S still retains 86%of its adsorption activity after four consecutive adsorption–desorption experiments.This indicates that the heteroatomic modification method affords excellent toluene adsorption performance and recycling practicability,which not only is beneficial for achieving the rational utilization of solid waste resources but also provides a practical method for the efficient elimination of volatile organic compounds.

Preparation of Solid Waste-Based Activated Carbon and Its Adsorption Mechanism for Toluene

Regenerated activated carbon(RAC)samples were prepared by carbon activation using waste activated carbon from solid waste resources as the carbon source precursor coupled with adding alkaline additives,and then were further modified by potassium ferrate to finally prepare high-performance carbon for VOCs adsorption.At the same time,the samples before and after modification were systematically studied through characterization techniques such as SEM,Raman spectrometry,FT-IR,XPS,and dynamic/static adsorption.The results showed that the specific surface area and pore volume of the RAC after modification by the strong oxidant potassium ferrate increased by 1.4 times;the degree of defects was enhanced and the content of oxygen-containing functional groups on the surface increased significantly.Among them,the sample modified with potassium ferrate for 24 h had the best dynamic toluene adsorption performance(375.5 mg/g),and the dynamic adsorption capacity was twice that of the original sample(192.8 mg/g).The static adsorption test found that the maximum adsorption capacity of RAC-6%K_(2)FeO_(4)+H_(2)SO_(4)-24h was 796 mg/g,which indicated that the potassium ferrate modification treatment could significantly increase the VOCs adsorption performance of RAC.In addition,through consecutive toluene adsorption-desorption cycle tests,it was found that the RAC-6%K_(2)FeO_(4)+H_(2)SO_(4)-24h sample still retained 91%of adsorption activity after the fifth regeneration cycle.This indicates that RAC-6%K_(2)FeO_(4)+H_(2)SO_(4)-24h has good cycle stability and great application value for the efficient purification of industrial waste VOCs gas.