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Comparison of the gaseous benzene adsorption capacity by activated carbons from Fraxinus excelsior L. as a lignocellulosic residual

Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Kastamonu University, Kastamonu, Türkiye

E-mail: kisinkaralar@kastamonu.edu.tr

Received: 18 February 2023 Accepted: 10 June 2023

Abstract:

Benzene vapor is notoriously known to induce adverse human health, which plays a definite role in the deformation of cells. Various advanced adsorbents from lignocellulosic precursors have emerged as cheaper alternatives to the green process for the adsorption of gaseous benzene. In this paper, the prominence mainly benzene vapor removal with lignin-based adsorbent in the adsorption technology has investigated the textural, morphology, and chemical characteristics of activated carbon synthesized from Fraxinus excelsior L. seeds, a lignocellulosic biomass waste. Chemically starting HCl and KOH in the N₂ atmosphere was adopted, contributing to the porous carbon material's well-developed porosity and surface chemistry. Also, carbonaceous materials were investigated by Brunauer–Emmet–Teller (BET), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction. Herein, the optimum way for producing activated carbon was recognized to be: activation temperature of 800 and 700 °C in line with an impregnation weight ratio of samples to HCl 1:2 and KOH 1:3 for 2 h activation time as FE₇AC and FE₂₂AC, which have resulted in 676 m²/g and 0.39 cm³/g; 734 m²/g and 0.48 cm³/g of BET surface area and total pore volume, respectively. The SEM observations exhibited advanced high porosity development formed by oxidation–reduction reaction, while FTIR confirmed the presence of various surface functional groups. Moreover, benzene became more tremendously facile for four ambient temperatures (20, 25, 30, and 35 °C) and until 200 min contact time. The tremendous values varied from 96 to 224 mg/g and 122 to 286 mg/g depending on lignin-based adsorbent amounts as 0.5 or 1 g and an initial benzene concentration of 100 mg/m³ by using FE₇AC and FE₂₂AC. The main innovation of this paper is exciting to assist recent paths for optimizing air filtration procedures under actual environmental circumstances, particularly regarding its compatibility with the benzene molecular structure of FE₂₂AC. The paper concludes that the performance of the FE₂₂AC can be enhanced via improvements in its surface properties for a wide array of actual benzene concentrations from gaseous applications.

Keywords: Adsorption; Biosorbent; Chemical activation; Forest residues; Gas treatment

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-023-02925-x

Chemical Papers 77 (10) 6111–6124 (2023)