Carbon dioxide adsorbents from flame-made diesel soot nanoparticles.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the top contributor to global warming. On the other, soot particles formed during fuel combustion and released into the atmosphere are harmful and also contribute to global warming. It would therefore be highly advantageous to capture soot and make use of it as a feedstock to synthesize carbon-based materials for applications such as carbon dioxide adsorption. In this work, flame-made diesel soot nanoparticles were used to produce a variety of activated carbons by combined oxidative treatment with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and potassium hydroxide (KOH), and their performance towards CO2 adsorption was evaluated. The effect of the chemical activation of soot with H2O2 for different reaction times and with KOH on the physicochemical properties of the activated carbons was investigated and compared to fresh soot. Interestingly, hollow aggregates of carbonaceous nanoparticles of a high interplanar distance, reduced polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) size, shorter PAH stacks, mesoporous structure, and a high content of oxygen functionalities along with other structural defects in PAHs were obtained in the synthesized activated carbons. Among the various analysis techniques employed, Raman spectroscopy indicated that the ID/IG ratio in soot decreased after simultaneous chemical treatment, though it did not indicate any enhancement in the graphitic character since the carbonyl and carboxylic containing PAHs and monovacancies (which cause defects in PAHs) also contribute to the increase in the intensity of the graphitic band. The activated carbons possessed promising CO2 adsorption capacities, adsorption kinetics and CO2/N2 selectivity. For example, one of the activated carbons, following H2O2 treatment for 9 h and a subsequent KOH activation, exhibited a CO2 adsorption capacity of 1.78 mmol/g at 1 bar and 25 °C, representing an increase of 161 % in capacity as compared to fresh soot. Hollow aggregates of carbonaceous nanoparticles consisting of shorter PAHs with a larger number of defects led to enhanced CO2 adsorption rate and CO2/N2 selectivity on activated carbons.

Food wastes derived adsorbents for carbon dioxide and benzene gas sorption.

Food wastes are produced worldwide in large quantities that could have potential to produce higher value products, including industrial adsorbents. The present work attempts valorization of food waste by CO2 activation and functionalization through nitric acid and melamine treatment. The prepared porous materials were subjected to gas phase adsorption of CO2 and benzene gases. The resultant highly porous carbon materials with surface area range from 797 to 1025 m2/g were synthesized showing uptake capacities of 4.41, 4.07, 4.18 and 4.36 mmol/g of CO2 and 345, 305, 242.5 and 380.7 mg/g of C6H6 respectively for PyF515, PyF520, PyF715 and PyF720 in the absence of doped carbon matrix. Differential thermogravimetric (DTG) analysis showed the thermostability of the precursors to validate selected initial pyrolysis temperatures (500 and 700 °C). C6H6 sorption lies mainly in the physisorption region for all adsorbents ensuring re-generation potential. PyF720 and PyF520 recorded the highest isosteric enthalpy of 64.4 kJ/mol and 48.7 kJ/mol respectively, despite the low degree of coverage of the latter. Thus, PyF515 and PyF720 demonstrated the potential for use as sustainable and cost effective adsorbents for benzene gas containment suitable for swing adsorption system.

A Facile Synthesis of Mesoporous Sulfonated Carbon and Its Structural Properties.

Mesoporous sulfonated carbons (SC) have been synthesized using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as a silica source and sucrose as carbon source. The synthesized SC samples were carbonized in N2flow at various high temperatures and then passing high purity air at room temperature. In this study, we extended the idea to deposit more oxygen functional groups into the surface of SC being high micropores for the favorable adsorption applications. The resulting materials were characterized by using XRD, BET surface area, TPD, TEM, TGA and FTIR techniques. Mesoporous SC materials with controllable pore diameters are expected to be significant to future research concerning the improvement of catalysis, supercapacitors, fuel cells and adsorption.

Synthesis of porous sulfonated carbon as a potential adsorbent for phenol wastewater.

The work reports a facile synthesis procedure for preparation of porous sulfonated carbons and its suitability for adsorption of phenol. The sulfonated carbon was synthesized utilizing a simplified, single-step, shorter duration process by sulfonation, dehydration and carbonization of sucrose in sulfuric acid and tetraethylorthosilicate. The surface and internal structures of the adsorbents were characterized utilizing various characterization techniques to understand the porous nature and surface functional groups of the porous matrix. Adsorption capacity was found to be highest for the sample heat treated at 600 °C, with the maximum adsorption capacity of 440 mg/g at 30 °C. The adsorption isotherms were tested with the Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherms models to identify the appropriate adsorption mechanism.