Adsorption of Volatile Organic Compounds Onto Biomass-Derived Activated Carbons: Experimental Measurement and Comparison

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a class of hazardous gaseous materials emitted from certain solids or liquids. They are thought to possess serious short- or long-term adverse effects on human health. Nowadays, an energy-efficient and cost-effective volatile organic compound removal system is of absolute necessity due to its adverse effects. In this regard, solar or waste heat-driven adsorption-based technologies can provide an energy-efficient system; however, most of the time, their utilization is limited by the high cost of the adsorbent materials. Right now, only one commercial high-grade activated carbon named Maxsorb III is known to have high capturing capacities. The purchasing cost of this adsorbent is very high, and it is derived from a non-renewable source. Therefore, this study is intended for the quest for low-priced biomass-derived activated carbons for an energy-efficient and cost-effective VOCs removal system. Two biomass-derived activated carbons synthesized from mangrove wood and waste palm trunk precursors are chosen, and four types of VOCs (ethanol, dichloromethane, acetone, and ethyl acetate) adsorption onto them are measured experimentally using the inverse gas chromatography technique. The zero uptake adsorption enthalpy and specific entropy of the adsorption are theoretically computed for all the adsorbent/adsorbate pairs. After that, these data are compared with the obtained data for Maxsorb III to assess the performance of the biomass-derived activated carbons. Results show that, for all the VOCs, the cost-effective mangrove-based activated carbon can be an excellent alternative to the high-priced Maxsorb III when employed as an adsorbent material for VOCs removal.