Toxic gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) is emitted to the atmosphere through a variety of routes at rates estimated at over 5000 tonnes per annum, a large fraction of which is Anthropogenic. It is then widely disbursed atmospherically and eventually deposited, where it is subject to further biogeochemical cycling, including re-emission. Research into capture of point source mercury emissions revolves almost exclusively around the use of activated carbons, various catalytic oxidation substrates, or as a by-product of acidic treatments of flue gas during SOx and NOx reduction methods. GEM is very non-reactive in its native state, but capture rates are greatly enhanced if GEM is first oxidized, or at least where oxidation states play a role at the substrate GEM interface. Little research has been devoted to capture of GEM directly. However, presented here is a novel adaption of coir fibers for use as a substrate in capturing GEM emissions directly. Various coir modifications were investigated, with the most effective being fibers coated with CuI crystals dispersed in a non-crosslinked poly-siloxane matrix. Scanning electron microscopy was used to view surface morphologies, and sorption characteristics were measured using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). These results indicate that coir fibers modified by CuI-[SiO₂] _n show great promise in their ability to efficiently sorb GEM, and could potentially be utilized in a variety of configurations and settings where GEM emissions need to be captured.

Implications

Highly toxic gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) has proved very difficult to capture, requiring complex catalytic oxidation or expensive gas scrubbing technologies. The modified coir fiber described in this work can effectively capture GEM without prior catalytic oxidation or any other physicochemical treatment of the gas. The solution provided here is made from renewable resources, is low cost, and the raw materials are readily available in bulk. Further, the mercury is bound in a stable and insoluble form that can be readily isolated from the substrate. This filtration device can be adapted to suit a variety of settings for GEM capture.

中文翻译：

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通过涂有金属卤化物的椰壳纤维捕获气态汞。

有毒的气态元素汞（GEM）通过各种途径排放到大气中，估计每年的速度超过5000吨，其中很大一部分是人为的。然后在大气中广泛分配并最终沉积，在此进行进一步的生物地球化学循环，包括再排放。捕获点源汞排放的研究几乎完全围绕使用活性炭，各种催化氧化底物，或在SOx和NOx还原方法中烟气进行酸性处理的副产品而展开。GEM在其原始状态下非常无反应性，但是如果GEM先被氧化，或者至少在氧化态在底物GEM界面上起作用的情况下，捕获速率会大大提高。很少有研究专门用于直接捕获GEM。然而，本文介绍的是一种新型的椰壳纤维，可用作直接捕获GEM排放物的基质。研究了各种椰壳纤维改性，其中最有效的是涂覆有分散在非交联聚硅氧烷基体中的CuI晶体的纤维。使用扫描电子显微镜观察表面形态，并使用原子吸收光谱法（AAS）测量吸附特性。这些结果表明CuI- [SiO改性的椰壳纤维 吸附特性用原子吸收光谱法（AAS）测定。这些结果表明CuI- [SiO改性的椰壳纤维 吸附特性用原子吸收光谱法（AAS）测定。这些结果表明CuI- [SiO改性的椰壳纤维_[2 ] _n在有效吸收GEM的能力方面显示出巨大的希望，并且可以潜在地用于需要捕获GEM排放物的各种配置和设置中。

含义

事实证明，剧毒的气态元素汞（GEM）很难捕获，需要复杂的催化氧化或昂贵的气体洗涤技术。在这项工作中描述的改性椰壳纤维可以有效捕获GEM，而无需事先进行催化氧化或对气体进行任何其他物理化学处理。这里提供的解决方案是由可再生资源制成的，成本低廉，并且原材料容易大量获得。此外，汞以稳定和不溶的形式结合，可以很容易地从基底上分离出来。该过滤装置可适合于各种设置，用于GEM捕获。