Preparation of Activated Carbons from Waste External Thermal-Insulating Phenolic Foam Boards

Abstract

Abstract. Activated carbons (ACs) were prepared by steam physical activation or KOH chemical activation with the waste external thermal-insulating phenolic foam board as the raw material. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific area, pore-size distribution and iodine value were used to characterize the properties of ACs. AC-1(with the method of KOH chemical activation) has the iodine value of 2300mg/g, BET specific area of 1293 m 2 g -1 , average pore-size of 2.4 nm, and mainly composed of micropore and relatively small mesopore. AC-2(with the method of steam physical activation) has the iodine value of 1665mg/g. Compared with AC-2, AC-1 had a pore-size distribution with more evenly and relative concentrated, it's belonging to the high microporosity materials. Actually, chemical activation had more significant influence on destruction of the pore wall than physical activation.

The insights of pet cokes/palm kernel shell activated carbon as CO2 adsorbent: equilibrium, kinetics, thermodynamics, and regeneration performance

“…Therefore, the production of activated carbon has been achieved with various types of starting materials (precursors), either from plant sources (i.e., wood, coconut shell, rice husk) or mineral sources (i.e., coal, pet cokes, asphaltene). 2 Nevertheless, to date, most of the existing studies have been limited to using activated carbon synthesized from a single feedstock. 3 Kaghazchi et al 4 reported that current practices are undesirable because each of the carbonaceous feedstock has its own limitations.…”

“…reported that its global demand can reached up to 2.2 million metric tons by 2022, with an increasing rate of 4.2% per annum . Therefore, the production of activated carbon has been achieved with various types of starting materials (precursors), either from plant sources (i.e., wood, coconut shell, rice husk) or mineral sources (i.e., coal, pet cokes, asphaltene) 2 . Nevertheless, to date, most of the existing studies have been limited to using activated carbon synthesized from a single feedstock 3 .…”