Abstract
Objectives: To develop domestic charcoal tubes with good adsorption capacity, breakthrough experiments were performed on four types of activated charcoal. Materials: The adsorption capacity and the adsorption rate were determined using a modified Wheeler equation after the breakthrough experiment. For four types of charcoal (J, K, S and SKC Inc. 226-01), 100 mg were used in the breakthrough experiment. The test was done on benzene, toluene, n-hexane, and acetone in a dynamic chamber. Results: K charcoal had the greatest surface area and the highest micropore volume. J charcoal had a similar surface area and micropore volume to SKC charcoal. S charcoal had the lowest surface area and micropore volume. J charcoal had the highest adsorption capacity at 101, 252 and 609 ppm of benzene. The gap in benzene adsorption capacity among the types of charcoal was the least at 609 ppm and the greatest at 101 ppm. J charcoal showed the highest adsorption capacity at 54, 106, 228 and 508 ppm of toluene. J charcoal and SKC charcoal had a similar adsorption capacity for acetone. J charcoal had the highest adsorption capacity for n-hexane. In the experiment featuring 10% breakthrough volume, 10% breakthrough occurred at 18 liters at $2065.9mg/m^3$ for J charcoal and at 20 liters at $1771.2mg/m^3$ for K charcoal. It was difficult to judge adsorption capacity by surface area and micropore volume of charcoal. J charcoal, which was similar to SKC charcoal in surface area and micropore volume, showed good adsorption capacity at common workplace concentrations. Conclusions: The adsorption capacity of J and K charcoal was superior compared with SKC charcoal. J and K charcoal can be considered appropriate for use as sampling media based on this result.
