Abstract
Wastewater treatment generates increasing amounts of unwanted sewage sludges, calling for advanced recycling methods. Here, we transformed sewage sludge into activated carbon by molten salt synthesis with ZnCl2. We analyzed the structure and specific surface area of sludge-derived activated carbon by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis. Results show that the mass ratio of ZnCl2 to sludge had a significant effect on the textural properties and adsorption performance of sludge-derived activated carbon. The maximum specific surface area was 549.72 m2/g, and the carbon utilization potential was 178.56 mg(C atom)/g(sludge), for a mass ratio of ZnCl2 to sludge of the total carbon mass in sludge-derived activated carbon adsorbed CO2 and methylene blue can be achieved to 186.68 and 203.18 mg(C atom)/g(sludge), respectively.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrés de JM, Orjales L, Narros A, de la Fuente MdM, Rodríguez ME (2013) Carbon dioxide adsorption in chemically activated carbon from sewage sludge. J Air Waste Manage Assoc 63(5):557–564. https://doi.org/10.1080/10962247.2013.772927
Chen Y-D, Wang R, Duan X, Wang S, Ren N-Q, Ho S-H (2020) Production, properties, and catalytic applications of sludge derived biochar for environmental remediation. Water Res 187:116390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2020.116390
Fechler N, Antonietti M (2015) Domino games: controlling structure and patterns of carbon nanomaterials in 2D & 3D. Nano Today 10(5):593–614. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nantod.2015.07.003
Gopinath A, Divyapriya G, Srivastava V, Laiju AR, Nidheesh PV, Kumar MS (2021) Conversion of sewage sludge into biochar: a potential resource in water and wastewater treatment. Environ Res 194:110656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110656
Heidarinejad Z, Dehghani MH, Heidari M, Javedan G, Ali I, Sillanpää M (2020) Methods for preparation and activation of activated carbon: a review. Environ Chem Lett 18(2):393–415. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-019-00955-0
Liu X, Fechler N, Antonietti M (2013) Salt melt synthesis of ceramics, semiconductors and carbon nanostructures. Chem Soc Rev 42(21):8237–8265. https://doi.org/10.1039/C3CS60159E
Liu H, Basar IA, Nzihou A, Eskicioglu C (2021) Hydrochar derived from municipal sludge through hydrothermal processing: a critical review on its formation, characterization, and valorization. Water Res 199:117186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.117186
Shi E, Wang X, Zhang M, Fang Y, Gao J, Wang X, Zheng Y (2021) Direct synthesis of hierarchical porous polymer nanoparticles from nitrile monomers and its application for methylene blue adsorption. Mater Res Expr 8(3):035001. https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/abe73b
Streit AFM, Collazzo GC, Druzian SP, Verdi RS, Foletto EL, Oliveira LFS, Dotto GL (2021) Adsorption of ibuprofen, ketoprofen, and paracetamol onto activated carbon prepared from effluent treatment plant sludge of the beverage industry. Chemosphere 262:128322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.128322
Tang Z, Zhao S, Qian Y, Jia H, Gao P, Kang Y, Lichtfouse E (2021) Formation of persistent free radicals in sludge biochar by hydrothermal carbonization. Environ Chem Lett 19(3):2705–2712. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-021-01198-8
Wang J, Wang S (2019) Preparation, modification and environmental application of biochar: a review. J Clean Prod 227:1002–1022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.282
Wu H-Y, Chen SS, Liao W, Wang W, Jang M-F, Chen W-H, Ahamad T, Alshehri SM, Hou C-H, Lin K-S, Charinpanitkul T, Wu KCW (2020) Assessment of agricultural waste-derived activated carbon in multiple applications. Environ Res 191:110176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110176
Xue P, Wu H, Lu Y, Zhu X (2018) Recent progress in molten salt synthesis of low-dimensional perovskite oxide nanostructures, structural characterization, properties, and functional applications: a review. J Mater Sci Technol 34(6):914–930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmst.2017.10.005
Yıldız Z, Kaya N, Topcu Y, Uzun H (2019) Pyrolysis and optimization of chicken manure wastes in fluidized bed reactor: CO2 capture in activated bio-chars. Process Saf Environ Prot 130:297–305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2019.08.011
Zhang M, Liu L, He T, Ju X, Chen P (2020) Molten salt assisted pyrolysis approach for the synthesis of nitrogen-rich microporous carbon nanosheets and its application as gas capture sorbent. Microporous Microporous Mater 300:110177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micromeso.2020.110177
Zhao Y-X, Li X-Y, Tian C, Wang J-X (2020) Production of carbon-doped titanium dioxide (C–TiO2) from polytitanium-coagulated sludge as an adsorbent or photocatalyst for pollutant removals. J Clean Prod 267:121979
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for Colleges and Universities in Liaoning Province, China (Grant Numbers lnjc202012 and lnqn202020).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
ES and MZ designed the research. ES and XW collected the data. XW, JG, YZ analyzed the data. ES and MZ wrote the article.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
Authors declare no competing financial interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shi, E., Wang, X., Zhang, M. et al. Transformation of sewage sludge into activated carbon by molten salt synthesis for adsorption of CO2 and dyes. Environ Chem Lett 20, 2253–2259 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-022-01428-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-022-01428-7