Hierarchical pore structure of activated carbon fabricated by CO_2/microwave for volatile organic compounds adsorption

An activated carbon pore-expanding technique was achieved through innovative reactivation by CO_2/microwave.The original and modified activated carbons were characterized by nitrogen adsorption–desorption,scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microcopy,and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.The mesopore volume increased from 0.122 cm^3·g^(-1) to 0.270 cm^3·g^(-1),and a hierarchical pore structure was formed.A gradual decrease in the phenolic hydroxyl and carboxyl groups on the surface of activated carbon enhanced the surface inertia of granular activated carbon(GAC).The toluene desorption rate of the modified sample increased by 8.81% compared with that of the original GAC.Adsorption isotherm fittings revealed that the Langmuir model was applicable for the original and modified activated carbons.The isosteric adsorption heat of toluene on the activated carbon decreased by approximately 50%,which endowed the modified sample with excellent stability in application.The modified samples showed an enhanced desorption performance of toluene,thereby opening a way to extend the cycle life and improve the economic performance of carbon adsorbent in practical engineering applications.

Prediction of Henry Constants and Adsorption Mechanism of Volatile Organic Compounds on Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes by Using Support Vector Regression

Support vector regression （SVR） combined with particle swarm optimization for its parameter optimization is employed to establish a model for predicting the Henry constants of multi-walled carbon nanotubes （MWNTs） for adsorption of volatile organic compounds （VOCs）. The prediction performance of SVR is compared with those of the model of theoretical linear salvation energy relationship （TLSER）. By using leave-one-out cross validation of SVR test Henry constants for adsorption of 35 VOCs on MWNTs, the root mean square error is 0.080, the mean absolute percentage error is only 1.19~, and the correlation coefficient （R2） is as high as 0.997. Compared with the results of the TLSER model, it is shown that the estimated errors by SVR are ali smaller than those achieved by TLSER. It reveals that the generalization ability of SVR is superior to that of the TLSER model Meanwhile, multifactor analysis is adopted for investigation of the influences of each molecular structure descriptor on the Henry constants. According to the TLSER model, the adsorption mechanism of adsorption of carbon nanotubes of VOCs is mainly a result of van der Waals and interactions of hydrogen bonds. These can provide the theoretical support for the application of carbon nanotube adsorption of VOCs and can make up for the lack of experimental data.

Adsorption of benzene, cyclohexane and hexane on ordered mesoporous carbon

Ordered mesoporous carbon（OMC） with high specific surface area and large pore volume was synthesized and tested for use as an adsorbent for volatile organic compound（VOC）disposal. Benzene, cyclohexane and hexane were selected as typical adsorbates due to their different molecular sizes and extensive utilization in industrial processes. In spite of their structural differences, high adsorption amounts were achieved for all three adsorbates, as the pore size of OMC is large enough for the access of these VOCs. In addition, the unusual bimodal-like pore size distribution gives the adsorbates a higher diffusion rate compared with conventional adsorbents such as activated carbon and carbon molecular sieve. Kinetic analysis suggests that the adsorption barriers mainly originated from the difficulty of VOC vapor molecules entering the pore channels of adsorbents. Therefore, its superior adsorption ability toward VOCs, together with a high diffusion rate, makes the ordered mesoporous carbon a promising potential adsorbent for VOC disposal.