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The co-pyrolysis of waste urea–formaldehyde resin with pine sawdust: co-pyrolysis behavior, pyrocarbon and its adsorption performance for Cr (VI)

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Abstract

Urea–formaldehyde (UF) resin is difficult to degrade and classified as hazardous organic waste. To address this concern, the co-pyrolysis behavior of UF resin with pine sawdust (PS) was studied, and the adsorption properties of pyrocarbon were evaluated with Cr (VI). Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that adding a small amount of PS can improve the pyrolysis behavior of UF resin. Based on the Flynn Wall Ozawa (FWO) method, the kinetics and activation energy values were estimated. It was observed that when the amount of UF resin exceeded twice that of PS, the activation energy of the reaction decreased, and they acted synergistically. The characterization of pyrocarbon samples showed that the specific surface area increased with the increase of temperature, while the content of functional groups showed the opposite trend. Intermittent adsorption experiments showed that 5UF + PS400 achieved 95% removal of 50 mg/L Cr (VI) at 0.6 g/L dosage and at pH 2. The adsorption process was consistent with the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetics, and the maximum adsorption was 143.66 mg/g at 30 ℃. Furthermore, the adsorption process consisted of electrostatic adsorption, chelation, and redox reaction. Overall, this study provides a useful reference for the co-pyrolysis of UF resin and the adsorption capacity of pyrocarbon.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the 2020 Science and Technology Project of Qingdao West Coast New Area (2020-99).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, No. 11, 777, Jialingjiang Rd, Huangdao District, Qingdao, Shandong, 266033, People’s Republic of China

    Wanzhen Zhong, Xiaoteng Li, Siyi Luo, Weiqiang Tan, Zongliang Zuo & Dongdong Ren

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  1. Wanzhen Zhong
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  2. Xiaoteng Li
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  3. Siyi Luo
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  4. Weiqiang Tan
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Contributions

Wanzhen Zhong: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, and writing—original draft. Xiaoteng Li: supervision and project administration. Siyi Luo: data curation and visualization. Weiqiang Tan: Software and resources. Zongliang Zuo: writing—review and editing. Dongdong Ren: validation and formal analysis.

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Correspondence to Siyi Luo.

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Zhong, W., Li, X., Luo, S. et al. The co-pyrolysis of waste urea–formaldehyde resin with pine sawdust: co-pyrolysis behavior, pyrocarbon and its adsorption performance for Cr (VI). Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 72854–72866 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27297-3

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