Adsorption of sulfur dioxide using nickel oxide/carbon adsorbents produced by one-step pyrolysis method

In this study, we present the preparation of nickel oxide/carbon using sewage sludge as precursor and nickel nitrate as activating agent by one-step pyrolysis method. The nickel oxide could be self-assembled on the surface of sewage sludge based carbon materials. The surface modified carbon adsorbent was characterized by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectrum (EDS) to illustrate the successful deposition of nickel oxide on the carbon adsorbent. The effect of the surface activation treatment on the adsorption performance of the carbon adsorbents was investigated. The results indicated that the prepared nickel oxide/carbon adsorbents produced beneficial effects on sulfur dioxide adsorption performance due to the existence of nickel oxide and nickel particles. Furthermore, the Fourier-transform infrared spectra and thermogravimetric method are used to illustrate the possible adsorption mechanism.

► The nickel oxide/carbon composite is prepared by novel direct preparation method.
► The effect of the surface modification on the adsorption performance was investigated.
► The SO2 adsorption capacities are comparable to commercial activated carbons.
► The carbon composite could improve adsorption performances by two possible ways.