Preparation and modification of activated carbon for benzene adsorption by steam activation in the presence of KOH

A series of activated carbons from Taixi anthracite were prepared by steam activation in the presence of KOH and then they were modified by different methods. The regulation of porosity and the modification of surface chemistry were carried out with the aim to improve the benzene adsorption capacity of activated carbon. The influences of KOH and activation process parameters including activation temperature, activation time and steam flow rate on porosity of activated carbon were evaluated, and the effect of modification methods on surface chemistry was investigated. Also, the relationship between benzene adsorption capacity and porosity and surface chemistry was analyzed. Results show that activation temperature is the dominant factor in the activation process; the introduction of KOH into the raw material can enhance the reactivity of char in activation process, meanwhile it shows a negative effect on the porosity development, especially on the mesopore development. Results of FTIR analysis indicate that anthracite-based activated carbon with condensed aromatics and chemically inert oxygen does not present the nature to be surface modified. Besides, benzene adsorption capacity has an approximate linear relationship with surface area and in our preparation, benzene adsorption capacity and surface area of activated carbon are up to 1210 m 2 /g and 423 mg/g, respectively.

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.

Mercury oxidation and adsorption characteristics of potassium permanganate modified lignite semi-coke

The adsorption characteristics of virgin and potassium permanganate modified lignite semi-coke （SC） for gaseous Hg were investigated in an attempt to produce more effective and lower price adsorbents for the control of elemental mercury emission. Brunauer-Emmett- Teller （BET） measurements, X-ray powder diffraction （XRD） and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） were used to analyze the surface physical and chemical properties of SC, Mn-SC and Mn-H-SC before and after mercury adsorption. The results indicated that potassium permanganate modification had significant influence on the properties of semi-coke, such as the specific surface area, pore structure and surface chemical functional groups. The mercury adsorption efficiency of modified semi-coke was lower than that of SC at low temperature, but much higher at high temperature. Amorphous Mn7＋, Mn6＋ and Mn4＋ on the surface of Mn-SC and Mn-H-SC were the active sites for oxidation and adsorption of gaseous Hg~, which oxidized the elemental mercury into Hg2＋ and captured it. Thermal treatment reduced the average oxidation degree of Mn2＋ on the surface of Mn-SC from 3.80 to 3.46. However, due to the formation of amorphous MnOx, the surface oxidation active sites for gaseous Hg0 increased, which gave Mn-H-SC higher mercury adsorption efficiency than that of Mn-SC at high temperature.