Decomposition of H2O2 on activated carbon obtained from olive stones

Activated carbons were prepared from olive oil solid wastes by treatment in different schemes: impregnation with H₃PO₄ followed by pyrolysis at 300–700 °C, by steam pyrolysis at 600–700 °C, or by conventional steam activation at 850 °C. Porosity characteristics were determined by analysis of nitrogen adsorption isotherms, and carbons of widely different properties and surface pH values were obtained. Decomposition of H₂O₂ in dilute unbuffered solution was followed by measuring evolved oxygen volumetrically. First‐order kinetics was followed, and the catalytic rate coefficients were evaluated. The carbons tested showed appreciable activity where evolved oxygen attained ≈10% of the stoichiometric amount in 1 h. The degree of decomposition showed inverse dependence on surface area, pore volume and mean pore dimensions. The chemical nature of the surface, rather than the porosity characteristics, was the principal factor in enhancing the disproportionation of H₂O₂ on the activated carbon surface. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry     

Water vapour adsorption on lignin‐based activated carbons

Lignocellulosic wastes are interesting precursors for carbon products. The high amount of Na observed in kraft lignin makes it a promising precursor for the preparation of activated carbons for desiccant applications. Water adsorption capacity and kinetics of kraft lignin‐based chars and activated carbons with different burn‐off and inorganic matter content have been studied. CO₂ partial gasification of lignin char develops a wide porous structure. An increase of the micropore volume can be observed at low to medium burn‐offs. At degrees of higher activation the mesoporous structure develops. For very high burn‐off the porous structure is destroyed by coalescence of the pores and reduction of the carbon material. The carbons obtained show atomic surface concentrations of sodium from 7.6–15.4%, as revealed by XPS analysis. Water vapour adsorption isotherms have been obtained in a thermogravimetric system and have been fitted by a DS model, which properly represents the experimental data. The kinetics of water vapour adsorption follows a linear driving force mass transfer (LDF) model. The presence of sodium and oxygen surface groups on the carbon surface enhances water vapour adsorption at low relative pressure. Activated carbon produced at 41% burn‐off shows the highest water vapour adsorption at low relative pressures, as a consequence of the high sodium dispersion on its surface. The sodium dispersed over the carbon surface undergoes clustering as gasification proceeds, decreasing the number of active centres. For burn‐off higher than 41%, this behaviour produces a decrease in the water adsorbed at low relative pressures. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Removal of mercury from natural gas by a new activated adsorbent from olive stones

This study was devoted to the valorization of a plant waste (olive stones): that is widely available in Mediterranean countries in order to remove mercury from natural gas. The raw material from olive stones was prepared by pyrolysis, chemical activation with phosphoric acid, and physical activation under steam. Two olive stone‐based granular activated carbons were prepared: one with the virgin stones, while the other was impregnated with sulphur. After treatment, the adsorbents obtained were characterized by determining the iodine number, the methylene blue index, and by estimating the porous properties by N₂ adsorption at 77 K. Thermogravimetric analysis and infrared spectroscopy analysis were carried out to determine the functional groups before and after mercury adsorption. An experimental study of vapour‐phase mercury adsorption by the activated carbons (virgin and sulphur‐impregnated) and a comparison with a commercial material (HGR) were performed. The comparison, made by analyzing the adsorption in a continuous mode, showed that the proportion of sulphur and the porosity were important for the removal of mercury. In the conditions used, the mercury adsorption on the ACs studied follows a physisorption mechanism. The results showed that granular activated carbon‐based olive stones (sulphur‐impregnated) are very efficient to remove mercury (with 2864 μg/g) and also less expensive than commercial activated carbon due to their local availability.     

Licorice residue and Pistachio-nut shell mixture: A promising precursor for activated carbon

As a continuation of previous research concerning preparation of activated carbon from agricultural by-products, applying a mixture of two kinds of lignocellulosic by-products with complementary properties as the parent material is investigated. Two kinds of activated carbons are prepared by chemical activation of the parent mixture – including residues of licorice and pistachio-nut shells – with H₃PO₄ and ZnCl₂ solutions, separately. The produced activated carbons have the surface areas comparable to the commercial ones. The lower ash content, higher bulk density and surface area of mix-based activated carbons in comparison with licorice-based ones, and also the highest mercury adsorption capacity of the mix-based ones confirm that it would be possible to modify the properties of an activated carbon using several complementary raw materials. The comparison of mercury adsorption capacities among mixed-based and the commercial activated carbons reveals that mix-based ones are effective and economical adsorbents for industrial wastewater treatment.     

Preparation and Characterization of Activated Carbon from Chestnut Shell and its Adsorption Characteristics for Lead

Activated carbons were prepared from chestnut shell by phosphoric acid activation and the prepared activated carbons were used to remove lead(II) from aqueous solutions. The effects of impregnation ratio (IR) and activation temperature on activated carbon production were investigated. The produced activated carbons were characterized by N₂ adsorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. The highest surface area (1611 m²/g) and total pore volume (0.7819 cm³/g) were obtained at a carbonization temperature of 500°C with an impregnation ratio of 3/1. The resulting activated carbon was used for removal of lead(II) from aqueous solution. The effects of temperature, contact time, and adsorbent dosage were investigated. The adsorption isotherm studies were carried out and the obtained data were analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin equations. The rate of adsorption was found to conform to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The Langmuir isotherm equation showed better fit for all temperatures and the maximum adsorption capacities of lead(II) was obtained as 138.88 mg/g at 45°C.     

Preparation of activated carbons by utilizing solid wastes from palm oil processing mills

Feasibility of producing activated carbons by utilizing solid wastes (extracted flesh fibre and seed shell) from palm oil processing mills was investigated. The effects of activation conditions (CO₂ flow rate, activation temperature and retention time) on the characteristics of the activated carbons, i.e. density, porosity, BET surface area, pore size distribution and surface chemistry were studied. In this study, the optimum conditions for activation were an activation temperature of 800 °C and a retention time of 30 min for fiber or 50 min for shell, which gave the maximum BET surface area. Pore size distribution revealed that the shell-based activated carbons were predominantly microporous whilst fiber activated carbon had predominant mesopores and macropores, suggesting the application of shell and fiber activated carbon as adsorbents for gas-phase and liquid-phase adsorption, respectively. This was confirmed by further gas- and liquid-phase adsorption tests.     

Characterization and application of activated carbon produced by H3PO4 and water vapor activation

Activated carbons have been prepared from woody biomass birch by using various activation procedures: a) treatment with phosphoric acid and pyrolysis at 600 °C in inert atmosphere, b) the same as in (a) followed by steam activation at the same temperature and c) treatment with phosphoric acid and direct pyrolysis in a stream of water vapor at 700 °C. The surface area and the porosity of the activated carbons were strongly dependent on the treatment after impregnation with H₃PO₄ (pyrolysis in inert atmosphere, steam pyrolysis or combination of both).Activated carbon, prepared by impregnation with phosphoric acid followed by steam pyrolysis (steam activation) had highly developed porous structure and the largest surface area among all prepared carbons (iodine number 1280 mg/g and BET surface area 1360 m²/g). The adsorption capacity of this sample for Hg(II) from aqueous solution was studied in varying treatment conditions: contact time, metal ion concentration and pH. The adsorption followed Langmuir isotherms and the adsorption capacity for Hg(II) at 293 K was 160 mg/g.     

Removal of chlorinated phenol from aqueous solution utilizing activated carbon derived from papaya (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Carica Papaya</Emphasis>) seeds

Activated carbons (ACs) were prepared from papaya seeds with different dry weight impregnation ratios of zinc chloride (ZnCl₂) to papaya seeds by using a two-stage self-generated atmosphere method. The papaya seeds were first semi-carbonized in a muffle furnace at 300 °C for 1 h and then impregnated with ZnCl₂ before activation at 500 °C for 2 h. Several physical and chemical characteristics such as moisture, ash, pH, functional groups, morphological structure and porosity of prepared ACs were studied and presented here. AC2, with the impregnation ration of 1: 2 (papaya seeds: ZnCl₂), yielded a product that had the highest adsorption capacity, 91.75%, achieved after 180min contact time. The maximum Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) surface area of AC2 was 546m²/g. Adsorption studies indicated that AC2 complied well with the Langmuir isotherm (q _m =39.683mg g^?1) and the pseudo-second-order (q _e =29.36mg g^?1). This indicated that chemisorption was the primary adsorption method for AC2. The intraparticle diffusion model proved that the mechanism of adsorption was separated into two stages: the instantaneous stage and the gradual adsorption stage. Overall, this work demonstrated the suitability of using papaya seeds as a precursor to manufacture activated carbon.     

Vanadium(V) Removal by Adsorption onto Activated Carbon Derived from Starch Industry Waste Sludge

This study examines the adsorption potential of activated carbons for vanadium (V) removal from aqueous solution. Activated carbons were produced via chemical activation of waste treatment sludge from the starch industry. Specific surface area and pore sizes of waste sludge samples were determined through chemical activation and pyrolysis. Experimental data indicated that sludge samples had micropore structure and specific surface area of up to 1196 m²/g. First-order and second-order models were applied to determine adsorption kinetics. Freundlich, Langmuir, and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherms were used to analyze equilibrium data of adsorption. Equilibrium adsorption data showed the best fit to the Freundlich isotherm. Adsorption of vanadium (V) follows second-order kinetic models. Maximum adsorption was observed at pH 4.0. Langmuir adsorption capacity was found to be 37.17 mg/g. The results of the study indicated that activated carbon obtained from industrial sewage sludge was effective in removing vanadium from aqueous solutions, which creates a significant advantage for treatment of industrial wastewaters and management of solid wastes.     

Activated Carbon by Potassium Carbonate Activation from Pine Sawdust (Pinus montezumae Lamb.)

Activated carbon (AC) was gained from Pinus montezumae (PM) wood sawdust and chemical activation with K₂CO₃ was used for obtaining activated carbons. Variations in reaction conditions such as temperature, impregnation ratio (IR), and activation time were carried out to study their influence on the specific surface area (SSA) and average pore volume (APV) in AC. Materials were analyzed by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to determine the functional groups, pore structure, and morphology of pine sawdust and activated carbons. Activated carbons were amorphous in nature with some crystalline regions.     

Mechanism of selenium sorption by activated carbon

Selenium, along with mercury and halides, represents one of the most volatile trace metallic emissions from coal‐fired combustors and utility boilers. This study investigates the potential of activated carbon in capturing gas phase selenium species in the low temperature range (125°C to 250°C) and elucidates the mechanism of interaction between selenium species and activated carbon. Selenium dioxide is chosen as the representative selenium species and experimental investigations are carried out in a differential bed reactor to illustrate the mechanism of SeO₂ and carbon Interaction, Activated carbons with different structural properties are studied as adsorbents for selenium dioxide capture at low temperature. The capture mechanism is found to involve both physical and chemical adsorption in the low temperature range. At 125°C, about 1.5 wt% of selenium is captured at equillbrium. Carbon surface analyses and XPS studies confirm the presence of both elemental and oxide forms of selenium on the surface suggesting partial reduction of selenium dioxide to elemental selenium at carbon surface.     

Role of microporosity and surface functionality of activated carbon in methylene blue dye removal from water

Activated carbons have been prepared from jute stick by both chemical and physical activation methods using zinc chloride and steam, respectively. They were characterized by evaluating surface area, iodine number, pore size distribution, and concentration of surface functional groups. The chemically activated carbon largely featured micropore structure, while the physically activated carbon mainly featured macropore structure. The specific surface area of chemically and physically activated carbons was 2,325 and 723 m ² /g, while the iodine number was 2,105 and 815mg/g, respectively. The concentration of surface functional groups was determined by Boehm titration method, which suggested that different types of surface functional groups are randomly distributed on chemical activated carbons, while it is limited for physical activated carbon. The microporosity along with surface functional groups provided a unique property to chemically activated carbon to adsorb Methylene Blue dye to a large extent. The adsorption of dye was also affected by the adsorption parameters such as adsorption time, temperature and pH. Comparatively, higher temperature and pH significantly facilitated dye adsorption on chemically activated carbon.     

SYNTHESIS OF ACTIVATED CARBON FROM JATROPHA SEED COAT AND APPLICATION TO ADSORPTION OF IODINE AND METHYLENE BLUE

This article provides evidence that jatropha seed coat residues can be used as a carbon source for preparing activated carbons that have good adsorption properties for iodine and methylene blue. Activated carbons were prepared using three different methods of activation, physical, chemical, and physico-chemical, for a range of activation temperatures (600°, 700°, 800°, and 900°C) and activation hold times (1, 2, and 3 h). The highest BET surface area (1479 m² g^?1) and the highest iodine adsorption (1511 mg g^?1) were obtained with physico-chemical activation at a temperature of 900°C and a hold time of 2 h. This activated carbon gave higher BET surface area and iodine adsorption than commercial activated carbon (1169.1 m² g^?1 and 1076 mg g^?1). The activated carbons prepared by physico-chemical activation at 900°C and 2 h were then tested for adsorption of methylene blue at a range of concentrations of methylene blue (100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 mg L^?1). It was found that a Langmuir isotherm gave a better fit (R ² = 0.999) to the observed adsorptions than a Freundlich isotherm (R ² = 0.884). For the adsorption kinetics, a pseudo-second-order model gave a better fit (R ² > 0.998, Δq _e  = 3.7%) than a pseudo-first-order model (R ² ≈ 0.95, Δq _e  = 85.6%). These results suggest that chemisorption is the rate-controlling step for the adsorption of methylene blue. The experimental results show that jatropha seed coat is a lignocellulosic waste precursor for preparation of activated carbon that is an alternative source for preparation of commercial-grade activated carbons.     

A comparison of adsorption characteristics of various activated carbons

The physico-chemical characteristics of activated carbons obtained from different agricultural by-products by pyrolysis in a stream of water vapor have been investigated. It was established that under the same conditions of treatment the physico-chemical and adsorption characteristics of activated carbons depend on the composition of the initial raw materials. Activated carbon obtained from apricot stones has the best properties. It is characterized by a large specific surface area and micropores volume and high iodine and methylene blue adsorption activity. The activated carbons produced from cherry stones and grape seeds are characterized by predominating meso- and macropores structure. It can be supposed this is related to the larger content of lignin in those materials.     

The effect of activated carbon surface moisture on low temperature mercury adsorption

Experiments with elemental mercury (Hg⁰) adsorption by activated carbons were performed using a bench-scale fixed-bed reactor at room temperature (27°C) to determine the role of surface moisture in capturing Hg⁰. A bituminous-coal-based activated carbon (BPL) and an activated carbon fiber (ACN) were tested for Hg⁰ adsorption capacity. About 75-85% reduction in Hg⁰ adsorption was observed when both carbon samples’ moisture (∼2 wt.% as received) was removed by heating at 110°C prior to the Hg⁰ adsorption experiments. These observations strongly suggest that the moisture contained in activated carbons plays a critical role in retaining Hg⁰ under these conditions. The common effect of moisture on Hg⁰ adsorption was observed for both carbons, despite extreme differences in their ash contents. Temperature programmed desorption (TPD) experiments performed on the two carbons after adsorption indicated that chemisorption of Hg⁰ is a dominant process over physisorption for the moisture-containing samples. The nature of the mercury bonding on carbon surface was examined by X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy. XAFS results provide evidence that mercury bonding on the carbon surface was associated with oxygen. The results of this study suggest that surface oxygen complexes provide the active sites for mercury bonding. The adsorbed H₂O is closely associated with surface oxygen complexes and the removal of the H₂O from the carbon surface by low-temperature heat treatment reduces the number of active sites that can chemically bond Hg⁰ or eliminates the reactive surface conditions that favor Hg⁰ adsorption.     

Porous properties of activated carbon produced from Eucalyptus and Wattle wood by carbon dioxide activation

This work focused on the preparation of activated carbon from eucalyptus and wattle wood by physical activation with CO₂. The preparation process consisted of carbonization of the wood samples under the flow of N₂ at 400°C and 60 min followed by activating the derived chars with CO₂. The activation temperature was varied from 600 to 900°C and activation time from 60 to 300 min, giving char burn-off in the range of 20/2-83%. The effect of CO₂ concentration during activation was also studied. The porous properties of the resultant activated carbons were characterized based on the analysis of N2 adsorption isotherms at −196°C. Experimental results showed that surface area, micropore volume and total pore volume of the activated carbon increased with the increase in activation time and temperature with temperature exerting the larger effect. The activated carbons produced from eucalyptus and wattle wood had the BET surface area ranging from 460 to 1,490 m²/g and 430 to 1,030 m²/g, respectively. The optimum activation conditions that gave the maximum in surface area and total pore volume occurred at 900°C and 60 min for eucalyptus and 800°C and 300 min for wattle wood. Under the conditions tested, the obtained activated carbons were dominated with micropore structure (∼80% of total pore volume).     

Preparation of Activated Carbons from Tobacco Stems by Potassium Hydroxide Activation and Phosphine Adsorption

Activated carbon preparation from tobacco stems by KOH activation at different activation temperatures and KOH/char mass ratios were investigated in this study. The effects of preparation parameters on activated carbon pore structure, morphometrics, microcrystallinities, and surface functional groups were characterized by N₂ adsorption, SEM, XRD, and FTIR technologies, respectively. The optimum preparation condition of activated carbon was activation temperature of 850°C, and KOH/char mass ratio of 2. Under this condition, the BET surface area of 2215 m²/g, and the pore volume of 1.343 cm³/g can be obtained. Prepared activated carbon showed clearly honeycomb holes, and a predominated amorphous structure. With increase of activation temperature and KOH/char mass ratio, decrease of surface oxygen functional group, and aromatization of the carbon structure was found. The activated carbon was subject to PH₃ purification, and the maximum PH₃ adsorption capacity of 253 mg/g can be realized based on well prepared KOH-AC with modification of 2.5% Cu. It seems that the activated carbon produced from chemical activation of tobacco stem would be an effective and alternative adsorbent for PH₃ adsorption because of its high surface area, adsorption capacity, and low cost.     

On the preparation and characterization of chars and activated carbons from orange skin

Activated carbons were obtained by carbonization of orange skin waste and partial gasification with CO₂. The orange skin contains a significant amount of inorganic matter mainly potassium, calcium and phosphorus. CO₂ gasification is catalyzed by potassium and calcium, resulting in carbons with a microporous structure. Thermal treatment up to 900 °C applied to orange skin-derived activated carbons yields carbons with a highly developed porous structure, and a significant contribution of mesopores, due to the activation effect of potassium compounds. This porous structure is initially blocked by the inorganic matter that is removed by a subsequent acid wash, opening the porous structure of the final carbon; an activated carbon with a very wide porous structure and a specific surface area of around 1200 m²/g was obtained. The activated carbon with high potassium content shows relatively high NO adsorption capacities in the presence of oxygen at 120 °C, probably due to the catalytic effect of potassium on the oxidation of NO. The breakthrough times of the NO adsorption in the presence of oxygen at 120 °C were predicted by the Bohart and Adams model with a relevant agreement between the calculated and the experimental times.     

Effects of chemical modification of petroleum cokes on the properties of the resulting activated carbon

Activated carbons have been prepared from petroleum cokes by the combination of a chemical treatment with HClO₄ or H₂O₂ and a chemical activation with KOH at a constant KOH/coke ratio of 3/1. The influence of different chemical treatments on the properties of the activated carbon precursors and final carbons activated with KOH was invested by using XRD, FTIR, and BET techniques. XRD results indicated that the value of interplanar distance d₀₀₂ increased by chemical treatment and the disappearance of the peak corresponding to 0 0 2 faces correlated to high specific surface area. FTIR studies showed that chemical modification promoted the formation of surface oxygen functionalities. Significant effects on BET surface area, pore texture and iodine adsorption capacity were evidenced. The results show that chemical modification prior to activation dramatically increased the BET surface area and total pore volume of the resulting activated carbon. Modified petroleum coke based activated carbon with chemical activation had higher specific surface area (2336 m²/g) and better iodine adsorption value (1998 mg/g).     

The controlled reaction of active carbons with air at 350°C—I: Reactivity and changes in surface area

Two activated carbons prepared from almond shells and olive stones were reacted with air at 350°C to different percentages burn-off. The reactivity was studied in the temperature range 350–500°C where the reaction is relatively slow. The activated carbon from almond shells is more resistant to the reaction with air and the activation energy of that reaction is 101 kJ mol⁻¹. The adsorption of N₂ at 77 K has been used to characterize the adsorptive properties and surface area of all the obtained products, which have high surface areas (around or above 1000 m² g⁻¹). The gas adsorption results, together with mercury porosimetry have allowed a study of the variation of surface area and porosity as a function of the burn-off. In any case, the exposure of the active carbons to air at 350°C for several days does not considerably affect their adsorptive properties even for a weight loss up to 50%.