Preparation of gold- and chlorine-impregnated bead-type activated carbon for a mercury sorbent trap

• Hg sorbent trap is prepared using impregnated bead-type activated carbon (BAC).
• BAC is impregnated with chlorine and/or gold (BACC, BACAu, and BACCl−Au).
• Hg spiking efficiency of BACCl−Au is 23% higher than that of virgin BAC.
• Hg adsorption efficiency higher than 95% is obtained by BACCl−Au.

This study aimed to develop a mercury (Hg) adsorption trap, which can be used to measure the concentration of elemental Hg in emissions from a Hg discharge facility, and evaluate its adsorption efficiency. The Hg spiking efficiency was compared by impregnating metallic and halogen materials that have high affinity for Hg into activated carbon (AC) to determine an accurate spiking method for Hg on AC. The Hg spiking efficiency was compared according to the type and content of the impregnated substances. AC impregnated with Cl and Au had a 15–20% higher Hg spiking efficiency compared to virgin AC. For Au impregnation at weight ratios of 0–20 wt% of adsorbent, spiking efficiencies of over 97% were observed under certain conditions. The Hg adsorption properties of the above adsorbent were determined experimentally, and the results were used to test the adsorption performance of Hg adsorption traps.