Texture and surface chemistry of activated carbons obtained from tyre wastes

Beatriz Acevedo, Carmen Barriocanal

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Abstract

Tyre wastes and their blends with coal and a bituminous waste material obtained from the benzol distillation column of the by-product section of a coking plant were employed as a precursor for the production of activated carbons (ACs). Pyrolysis up to 850 C followed by physical activation with CO2 yielded mesoporous carbons with different pore size distributions and surface areas depending on the degree of burn-off. ACs with surface areas of 475 and 390 m2/g were obtained for the two tyre wastes. The inclusion of coal in the blend gave rise to surface areas of up to 1120 m2/g due to an increase in the microporosity. The time needed to obtain the desired degree of burn-off depended on the reactivity of the char. The coal-containing materials required the longest amount of time. The surface chemistry of the samples was studied by Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The principal oxygenated groups found were quinones, lactones and carboxylic acids.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)275-283
Number of pages9
JournalFuel Processing Technology
Volume134
Early online date20 Feb 2015
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2015

Keywords

  • Activated carbons
  • Coal
  • Reinforcing fibre
  • Scrap tyres
  • Surface chemistry

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