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Surface functionalization methodologies on activated carbons and their benzene adsorption

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Abstract

The present work reports the effect of different functionalization methodologies on surface modification of porous carbon and its efficacy for benzene adsorption. The virgin and surface-modified adsorbents were characterized by FTIR, N2 sorption analysis, SEM, and Boehm titration. The adsorption isotherms were measured at different temperatures using a highly sensitive magnetic suspension microbalance. At lower benzene concentration, the virgin carbon was found to possess reasonable adsorption capacity, while at higher benzene concentration, the surface-modified carbon tends to perform better. The maximum benzene adsorption capacity at 25 °C and vapor pressure of 90 mbar is as follows: 467 mg/g (NORIT-AC), 227 mg/g (AC-APS (1 M)), 388 mg/g (Norit-AC-HT), 492 mg/g (AC-HNO3), and 531 mg/g (AC-H2SO4).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thanks the Gas Processing and Materials Science Research Centre (GRC-003), Khalifa University (formerly The Petroleum Institute) for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, SAN Campus, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Prabhu Azhagapillai, Ahmed Al Shoaibi & Srinivasakannan Chandrasekar

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  1. Prabhu Azhagapillai
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  2. Ahmed Al Shoaibi
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  3. Srinivasakannan Chandrasekar
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Correspondence to Prabhu Azhagapillai.

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Azhagapillai, P., Al Shoaibi, A. & Chandrasekar, S. Surface functionalization methodologies on activated carbons and their benzene adsorption. Carbon Lett. 31, 419–426 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-020-00170-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-020-00170-w

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