Adsorption of SO2 onto waste cork powder-derived activated carbons

Abstract Three activated carbon samples have been prepared by thermal (AC char ), physical (with CO 2 , AC CO2 ) and chemical (with KOH, AC KOH ) activation of waste cork powder. Cork was characterized by thermogravimetric, elemental and proximate analyses, and activated carbons were characterized by elemental and proximate analyses, adsorption–desorption of N 2 , acid/base and Boehm’s titration and FTIR (ATR) spectroscopy. A commercial activated carbon sample (AC com ) was subjected to the same characterization program for comparison purposes. Activation of cork conducted to an increase in BET surface area and pore volume in the sequence: AC char CO2 KOH , getting close to those of AC com , and to an increase in surface acidity in the sequence: AC char CO2  ≈ AC com KOH . The four adsorbents were tested in the adsorption of SO 2 , where AC KOH presented the highest adsorption capacity, while AC char and AC CO2 presented similar behaviors, comparable to that of AC com . Adsorption equilibrium was successfully fitted to Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Desorption experiments demonstrated how SO 2 strong adsorption was favored when decreasing surface acidity.

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