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High surface area nanostructured activated carbons derived from sustainable sorghum stalk

High surface area nanostructured activated carbons derived from sustainable sorghum stalk
High surface area nanostructured activated carbons derived from sustainable sorghum stalk
The Durra (Sorghum) stalk was employed as a novel precursor for the formation of high surface area activated carbons (ACs) by utilizing ZnCl2 as activating agent followed by pyrolysis in a flow of N2 gas. The formation of ACs has been investigated at different pyrolysis temperatures (400, 500 and 600 °C) and different ZnCl2 impregnation concentrations. The results indicated that, the AC could be formed with high carbon contents, good thermal stability, large specific surface areas in the range of 1200–1817 m2/g and nanostructured in graphene-like layers of 5–6 nm in thickness. In addition, textural flexibility (in terms of supermicro/meso porosity) of the produced ACs can be fine-tuned by pyrolysis conditions. The potential application of ACs was tested towards the removal of hazardous cationic dye, methylene blue (MB), in aqueous media. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics of MB on ACs were examined at 25 °C. The ACs showed a high adsorption capacity, as high as 386 mg2/g. The adsorption of MB was better described by the Langmuir isotherm model and followed the pseudo-second-order equation. In light of the vast availability of durra stalks, as a sustainable residual, non-food/non-feed biomass material and quality of the produced AC materials. The presented ACs are very promising materials for application in many adsorption and purification processes.
0167-7322
386-396
Khalil, K. M. S.
3d3cee2e-9b1a-4c24-b34b-917ffe32554a
Allam, O. A. S.
a37e6824-bf8a-4393-bec9-16d14d7cba97
Khairy, M.
45b2e120-468d-4d1e-bcdd-a7178e45981f
Mohammed, K. M. H.
1c3c5641-4d0a-4c4d-bb26-fe733b8dbf63
Elkhatib, R. M.
890d7e61-a5fa-4e61-ac66-3fbdf2518c3f
Hamed, M. A.
494403d4-0c23-4012-8062-0231ec0e89c0
Khalil, K. M. S.
3d3cee2e-9b1a-4c24-b34b-917ffe32554a
Allam, O. A. S.
a37e6824-bf8a-4393-bec9-16d14d7cba97
Khairy, M.
45b2e120-468d-4d1e-bcdd-a7178e45981f
Mohammed, K. M. H.
1c3c5641-4d0a-4c4d-bb26-fe733b8dbf63
Elkhatib, R. M.
890d7e61-a5fa-4e61-ac66-3fbdf2518c3f
Hamed, M. A.
494403d4-0c23-4012-8062-0231ec0e89c0

Khalil, K. M. S., Allam, O. A. S., Khairy, M., Mohammed, K. M. H., Elkhatib, R. M. and Hamed, M. A. (2017) High surface area nanostructured activated carbons derived from sustainable sorghum stalk. Journal of Molecular Liquids, 247, 386-396. (doi:10.1016/j.molliq.2017.09.090).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The Durra (Sorghum) stalk was employed as a novel precursor for the formation of high surface area activated carbons (ACs) by utilizing ZnCl2 as activating agent followed by pyrolysis in a flow of N2 gas. The formation of ACs has been investigated at different pyrolysis temperatures (400, 500 and 600 °C) and different ZnCl2 impregnation concentrations. The results indicated that, the AC could be formed with high carbon contents, good thermal stability, large specific surface areas in the range of 1200–1817 m2/g and nanostructured in graphene-like layers of 5–6 nm in thickness. In addition, textural flexibility (in terms of supermicro/meso porosity) of the produced ACs can be fine-tuned by pyrolysis conditions. The potential application of ACs was tested towards the removal of hazardous cationic dye, methylene blue (MB), in aqueous media. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics of MB on ACs were examined at 25 °C. The ACs showed a high adsorption capacity, as high as 386 mg2/g. The adsorption of MB was better described by the Langmuir isotherm model and followed the pseudo-second-order equation. In light of the vast availability of durra stalks, as a sustainable residual, non-food/non-feed biomass material and quality of the produced AC materials. The presented ACs are very promising materials for application in many adsorption and purification processes.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 20 September 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 September 2017
Published date: 2017

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 438084
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/438084
ISSN: 0167-7322
PURE UUID: ffec6f69-593b-445b-bf2f-9cbb6438609a
ORCID for K. M. H. Mohammed: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9538-0936

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 28 Feb 2020 17:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:59

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Contributors

Author: K. M. S. Khalil
Author: O. A. S. Allam
Author: M. Khairy
Author: R. M. Elkhatib
Author: M. A. Hamed

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