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Preparation and characterization of a high-efficiency radon adsorbing material based on activated carbon modified by water immersion and freeze–thaw

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Abstract

In this paper, activated carbon has been modified by water immersion and freeze–thaw cycles to further improve its radon adsorption capacity. Under freezing at − 80 °C and thawing at 50 °C, three cycles of modification were most effective, the radon adsorption coefficient was increased by 24%, and remained stable after five repeated radon adsorption–desorption cycles. The apparent morphology of the modified activated carbon changed significantly. The specific surface area of micropores increased significantly and was positively correlated with the radon adsorption capacity. The new application of this method can provide some references for the modification of material.

Graphical abstract

Experimental flow process diagram. The activated carbon was modified by water immersion and freeze–thaw cycles under different experimental conditions, and the best modification process was determined by measuring the static adsorption coefficient. The activated carbon with better modification effect was characterized and tested to observe the morphological and structural changes. It was finally concluded that water immersion and freeze-thawing could effectively enhance the microporous volume, specific surface area and radon adsorption capacity of activated carbon.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11975120, 11875165).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Provincial Key Laboratory of Radon, School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, Hunan, China

    Haihong Li, Detao Xiao, Guizhi Zhao, Xiangyuan Deng & Bo Yu

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  1. Haihong Li
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  2. Detao Xiao
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  3. Guizhi Zhao
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  4. Xiangyuan Deng
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  5. Bo Yu
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Contributions

HL: Methodology, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing-Original Draft. DX: Writing—review & editing, Resources, Project administration, Funding acquisition. GZ: Writing—review & editing, Resources, Project administration, Funding acquisition. XD: Formal analysis, Supervision. BY: Formal analysis, Visualization.

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Correspondence to Detao Xiao or Guizhi Zhao.

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We declare that none of the work contained in this manuscript is published in any language or currently under consideration at any other journal, and there are no conflicts of interest to declare. All authors have contributed to, read, and approved this submitted manuscript in its current form. Our manuscript has also been edited by a native English-speaking expert to ensure its English is good enough for publication.

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Li, H., Xiao, D., Zhao, G. et al. Preparation and characterization of a high-efficiency radon adsorbing material based on activated carbon modified by water immersion and freeze–thaw. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 331, 3125–3133 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08345-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08345-7

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