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Preparation and characterization of high surface area activated carbon from pine wood sawdust by fast activation with H3PO4 in a spouted bed

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Abstract

Activated carbons were produced from waste pine wood sawdust using fast activation with H3PO4 in a spouted bed. In this study, activation temperature was set as 800 °C, and activation time ranged from 1 to 15 min. Experimental results show that sawdust impregnated with higher mass ratio of H3PO4 would be agglomerated in spouted bed, and difficult to fluidize. Therefore, an amount of quartz sand was added to assist for good fluidization. Fluidization of particle can improve the BET surface area or micropore volume of activated carbons. High BET surface area activated carbons can be obtained with activation time of only 1–5 min by combining the fluidization and H3PO4 fast activation. The obtained activated carbons contained developed pore structure and abundant surface functional groups (carboxyl, carbonyl and P-containing groups) by SEM–EDS, FTIR and XPS techniques. The particles of impregnation ratio of 1:1 can achieve fluidization without adding the quartz sand, which was convenient for experimental operation and even industrial production, and the BET surface area can reach more than 1000 m2/g in activation time of only 5 min.

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Acknowledgements

The research is supported by International Joint Research and Development Project of Tianjin Talent Introduction and Science and Technology Cooperation Plan (14RCGFGX00850).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300222, China

    Xinyuan Gao, Long Wu, Zhanyong Li, Qing Xu, Wei Tian & Ruifang Wang

  2. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Integrated Design and On-line Monitoring for Light Industry and Food Machinery and Equipment, Tianjin, 300222, China

    Long Wu, Zhanyong Li, Qing Xu, Wei Tian & Ruifang Wang

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  1. Xinyuan Gao
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  3. Zhanyong Li
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Correspondence to Zhanyong Li.

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Gao, X., Wu, L., Li, Z. et al. Preparation and characterization of high surface area activated carbon from pine wood sawdust by fast activation with H3PO4 in a spouted bed. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 20, 925–936 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-017-0653-x

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