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Oxalic acid–modified activated carbons under hydrothermal condition for the adsorption of the 2-butanone

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Abstract

Growing volatile organic compound (VOC) emission will cause air pollution and further threaten human health. Activated carbon is widely applied to treatment of VOCs in virtue of lower cost and excellent adsorption ability. In this work, the adsorption capacity of polarity VOCs on activated carbon is improved by oxalic acid (H2C2O4) hydrothermal modification. After 2 M H2C2O4 modification, the adsorption capacity of 2-butanone rose from 312.60 to 345.98 mg/g, and the time reaching saturation adsorption became shorter. BET results showed that both the specific surface area and total pore volume of 2 M H2C2O4-modified activated carbon increased by 3.32% and 3.9%, respectively. Both FTIR and XPS characterization confirmed variation of the surface oxygen–containing functional groups (SOFGs), while quantitative analysis via Boehm titration showed the significant increase of total acidity (61.36%), particularly the carboxyl content increased by 96.28%. The results indicated modification process can not only change the pore structure but also the SOFGs of activated carbons. The dynamic adsorption curves conform to the Bangham kinetics model, indicating that the adsorption of 2-butanone on both activated carbon is controlled by the diffusion in the pore channel. The adsorption data was also modeled by the internal particle diffusion model, and the internal diffusion adsorption stage is the rate-controlling step. The stability before and after adsorption and the cycling performance were studied.

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Funding

This work is sponsored by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 51872184), Shanghai Technical Service Center for Advanced Ceramics Structure Design and Precision Manufacturing (No. 20DZ2294000), Science and Technology Program Project of Shanghai (No.20010500200), and the Belt and Road Initiatives International Cooperation Project of China (No. 20640770300).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center of Nano Science and Technology, College of Science, Shanghai University, No.99 Shangda Road, Baoshan District, Shanghai, 200444, PR, China

    Naijing Bu, Xiaomeng Liu, Tianzhen Li, Rong Li & Qiang Zhen

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  1. Naijing Bu
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  2. Xiaomeng Liu
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  3. Tianzhen Li
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  4. Rong Li
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  5. Qiang Zhen
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Contributions

Naijing Bu, Xiaomeng Liu, and Tianzhen Li conceived this project, assisted the synthesis and characterization of materials, and completed the research of adsorption experiments. Rong Li and Qiang Zhen oversaw its progress. All authors agreed on the submitted version, tasked to Qiang Zhen.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rong Li.

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All of the authors have read and approved the paper, and it has not been published previously nor is it being considered by any other peer-reviewed journal.

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Responsible Editor: Tito Roberto Cadaval Jr

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Highlights

• Activated carbon was modified with oxalic acid.

• Adsorption capacity of 2-butanone increased by 9.65% after 2 M H2C2O4 modification.

• The adsorption behavior of 2-butanone almost agreed with the Bangham kinetics model.

• Internal diffusion adsorption stage is the rate-controlling stage in adsorption of VOCs.

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Bu, N., Liu, X., Li, T. et al. Oxalic acid–modified activated carbons under hydrothermal condition for the adsorption of the 2-butanone. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 109606–109617 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-30095-6

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