Activated carbon nanofibers from lignin/recycled-PET and their adsorption capacity of refractory sulfur compounds from fossil fuels

Efstratios Svinterikos, Ioannis Zuburtikudis, Mohamed Al-Marzouqi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) from a blend of lignin with recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) (r-PET) were produced from the thermal treatment of precursor electrospun lignin/r-PET nanofibrous mats. The impact of the lignin/r-PET mass ratio (ranging from 50/50 to 90/10) on the morphology, porosity and carbon structure of the CNFs was thoroughly investi-gated. The CNFs produced from a lignin/r-PET mass ratio of 50/50 possess the highest BET surface area (353 m2/g) as the presence of r-PET contributes to the development of microporosity, while all CNFs consist of disordered carbon structure. Their chemical activation with KOH boosted their BET surface area to 1413 m2/g and further treatment with HNO3 anchored oxygen functional groups on their surface. These activated CNFs were used for the adsorption of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothio-phene (DMDBT) from a model diesel fuel (n-dodecane) and it was found that they exhibit a high adsorption capacity at ambient conditions (120.3 mgDMDBT/gC). This is combined with remarkably fast adsorption kinetics as 94% of the equilibrium concentration is reached after just 1 min. These outstanding kinetics are justified by the nano-structured morphology of the activated CNFs which translates into a very large specific surface area that minimizes mass transfer limitations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)248-264
Number of pages17
JournalExpress Polymer Letters
Volume16
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2022

Keywords

  • Carbon nanofibers
  • Lignin
  • Nanomaterials
  • Processing technologies
  • Recycled PET

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Polymers and Plastics
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Materials Chemistry

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