2009, Vol.10, No.4

Carbon Letters 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.35 KCI-WoS Impact Factor : 6.04

pISSN : 1976-4251 / eISSN : 2233-4998
https://journal.kci.go.kr/carbon

Potassium hydroxide activated carbons were prepared from Egyptian petroleum cokes with different KOH/coke ratios and at different activation temperatures and times. The textural properties were determined by adsorption of nitrogen at −196oC. The adsorption of iodine and methylene blue was also investigated at 30oC. The surface area and the non-micropore volume increased whereas the micropore volume decreased with the increase of the ratio KOH/coke. Also the surface area and porosity increased with the rise of activation temperature from 500 to 800oC. Textural parameter considerably increased with the increase of activation time from 1 to 3 h. Further increasing of activation time from 3 to 4 h was associated with a less pronounced increase in textural parameters. The adsorption of iodine shows the same trend of surface area and porosity change exhibited by nitrogen adsorption, with KOH/coke ratio and temperature of activation. Adsorption of methylene blue follows pseudo-first-order kinetics and its equilibrium adsorption follows Langmuir and D-R models.

Thermal emissivity of nuclear graphite was measured with its oxidation degree. Commercial nuclear graphites (IG-110, PECA, IG-430, and NBG-18) have been used as samples. Concave on graphites surface increased as its oxidation degree increased, and R value (Id/Ig) of the graphites decreased as the oxidation degree increased. The thermal emissivity increased depending on the decrease of the R (Id/Ig) value through Raman spectroscopy analysis. It was determined that the thermal emissivity was influenced by the crystallinity of the nuclear graphite.

In this study, the adsorption of toxic pollutants onto cetyltrimethylammonium kaolin (CTAB-Kaolin) is investigated. The organo-kaolin is synthesized by exchanging cetyltrimethylammonium cations (CTAB) with inorganic ions on the surface of kaolin. The chemical analysis, the structural and textural properties of kaolin and CTAB-kaolin were investigated using elemental analysis, FTIR, SEM and adsorption of nitrogen at −196oC. The kinetic adsorption and adsorption capacity of the organo-kaolin towards o-xylene, phenol and Cu(II) ion from aqueous solution was investigated. The kinetic adsorption data of o-xylene, phenol and Cu(II) are in agreement with a second order model. The equilibrium adsorption data were found to fit Langmuir equation. The uptake of o-xylene and phenol from their aqueous solution by kaolin, CTAB-kaolin and activated carbon proceed via physisorption. The removal of Cu(II) ion from water depends on the surface properties of the adsorbent. Onto kaolin, the Cu(II) ions are adsorbed through cation exchange with Na+. For CTAB-kaolin, Cu(II) ions are mainly adsorbed via electrostatic attraction with the counter ions in the electric double layer (Br−), via ion pairing, Cu(II) ions removal by the activated carbon is probably related to the carbon-oxygen groups particularly those of acid type. The adsorption capacities of CTAB-kaolin for the investigated adsorbates are considerably higher compared with those of unmodified kaolin. However, the adsorption capacities of the activated carbons are by far higher than those determined for CTAB-kaolin.