Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
149263 Chemical Engineering Journal 2012 4 Pages PDF
Abstract

Application of low temperature oxygen plasma was proposed to modify activated carbons (ACs) for enhancing their adsorption toward dibenzothiophene (DBT) in a model diesel fuel. The textural structures and oxygen-containing group concentrations of the modified ACs were separately characterized and measured. Results showed that the use of oxygen plasma to modify the ACs made carbon surface oxygen-containing groups greatly increase, and thus significantly improved their adsorption capacities of DBT. More importantly, this novel modification method effectively keep the mass losses of the ACs to fell within a very narrow range of ±2%, which overcame a demerit of conventional thermal oxidation treatment which resulted in bad mass loss of 31.7–91.4%. The isotherms of DBT on the modified ACs were significantly higher than those on original AC. Fixed-bed breakthrough experiments showed that the working adsorption capacity of the modified ACs for DBT increased by 49.1% compared to the original AC.

► Oxygen plasma was used to modify activated carbon (AC) without mass loss of AC. ► Modification with oxygen plasma makes DBT adsorption capacity of AC increase greatly. ► Working capacity of modified AC for DBT increased by 49% compared to original AC. ► Isotherms of DBT on the modified ACs were best fitted by Langmuir model.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Chemical Engineering Chemical Engineering (General)
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