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Comparison and analysis of one- and two-step activation for preparation of activated carbon from furfural residues

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Abstract

Activated carbon (AC) was prepared from furfural residue (FR) in a horizontal tube reactor under a carbon dioxide atmosphere comparing one- and two-step activation methods. Considerable differences were observed between ACs produced from these two methods in microscopic morphology, structural properties, organic structure, and crystallinity. It showed that the AC obtained by one-step activation (800 oC, 20 min, K2CO3: FR = 0.5:1) exhibited microporous and alkaline surface characteristics, and achieved the highest iodine value of 1305.7 mg/g and BET surface area 2083.6 m2/g. While, for the two-step method, the iodine value was 1004.9 mg/g and the BET surface area was only 726.3 m2/g. Furthermore, one-step activation obtained a higher yield of high-quality AC in a shorter activation time than the two-step method. The adsorption data fitted well with the Redlich-Peterson isotherm model and reached the highest value of 1761.1 mg/g, while the adsorption kinetics agreed well with the pseudo-second-order model.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (Grant number: 2017YFE0124800).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, North Third Ring Road 15, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100029, China

    Jie Fu, Wenya Ao, Nasarul Wahab, Xiao Mao, Chunmei Ran, Yang Liu, Guangqing Liu & Jianjun Dai

  2. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada

    Jie Fu & Naoko Ellis

  3. Datang Northwest Electric Power Test & Research Institute, 155 Fengcheng Seven Road, Economic and Technological Development District, Xi’an, 710021, China

    Qinhao Kang

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Fu, J., Kang, Q., Ao, W. et al. Comparison and analysis of one- and two-step activation for preparation of activated carbon from furfural residues. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 13, 4681–4694 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01439-4

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