• Carbon letters
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.152-161
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• 2011

Activated carbon was prepared from pre-carbonized petroleum coke. Textural properties were determined from studies of the adsorption of nitrogen at 77 K and the surface chemistry was obtained using the Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer technique and the Boehm titration process. The adsorption of three aromatic compounds, namely phenol (P), p-nitrophenol (PNP) and benzoic acid (BA) onto APC in aqueous solution was studied in a batch system with respect to contact time, pH, initial concentration of solutes and temperature. Active carbon APC obtained was found to possess a high surface area and a predominantly microporous structure; it also had an acidic surface character. The experimental data fitted the pseudo-second-order kinetic model well; also, the intraparticle diffusion was the only controlling process in determining the adsorption of the three pollutants investigated. The adsorption data fit well with the Langmuir and Freundlich models. The uptake of the three pollutants was found to be strongly dependent on the pH value and the temperature of the solution. Most of the experiments were conducted at pH 7; the $pH_{(PZC)}$ of the active carbon under study was 5.0; the surface of the active carbon was negatively charged. The thermodynamic parameters evaluated for APC revealed that the adsorption of P was spontaneous and exothermic in nature, while PNP and BA showed no-spontaneity of the adsorption process and that process was endothermic in nature.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.1321-1326
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• 2011

In this work, the effects of different surface functional groups on the elemental mercury adsorption of porous carbons modified by chemical treatments were investigated. The surface properties of the treated carbons were observed by Boehm's titration and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was found that the textural properties, including specific surface area and pore structures, slightly decreased after the treatments, while the oxygen content of the ACs was predominantly enhanced. Elemental mercury adsorption behaviors of the acidtreated ACs were found to be four or three times better than those of non-treated ACs or base-treated ACs, respectively. This result indicates that the different compositions of surface functional groups can lead to the high elemental mercury adsorption capacity of the ACs. In case of the acid-treated ACs, the $R_{C=O}/R_{C-O}$ and $R_{COOH}/R_{C-O}$ showed higher values than those of other samples, indicating that there is a considerable relationship between mercury adsorption and surface functional groups on the ACs.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.155-160
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• 2005

Removal of methyl mercaptan was investigated using adsorption on virgin activated carbon (VAC) and modified activated carbons with acidic chemicals in the present work. CAC, NAC, AAC and SAC were represented as activated carbons modified with HCI, HNO$_{3}$, CH$_{3}$COOH and H$_{2}$S0$_{4}$ ,respectively The pore structures were evaluated using nitrogen isotherm. The surface properties of virgin activated carbon and modified activated carbons were characterized by EA, pH of carbon surface and acid value from Boehm titration. The modification of activated carbon with acidic chemicals resulted in a decrease in BET surface area, micropore volume and surface pH, but an increase in acid value. The order of the adsorption capacity of activated carbons was NAC>AAC>SAC>CAC>VAC, and in agreement with that of acid value of activated carbons, whereas in disagreement with that of micropore volume of activated carbons. It appeared that chemical adsorption played an important role in methyl mercaptan on modified activated carbons with acidic chemicals compared to virgin activated carbon. Modifying activated carbon with acidic chemicals enabled to significantly enhance removal of methyl mercaptan.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.44 no.11
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• pp.607-612
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• 2007

Zn-AC and Zn-H-AC series prepared from non- and surface-modified activated carbon were investigated in terms of their hydrogen production capacity. An increase in the concentration of the zinc salts used with these series was shown to lead to a decrease in the values of the surface textural properties. The existence of zinc complexes on the surface was confirmed from an analysis of XRD data. The SEM micrographs of the two different sample types showed that the transformation of the carbon surface with an acid pre-treatment significantly change the metal contents on the surfaces of the carbon matrix. The EDX spectra indicated that all of the samples were richer in the amount of oxygen and zinc compared to any other elements. The results obtained using the Boehm's titration method showed that the positive introduction of the acidic groups on the carbon surfaces with the acid treatment is correlated with an increase in the amounts of zinc complexes with variation of the acidic groups. In terms of the hydrogen production performance, the volume fractions of the Zn-H-AC series were found to produce higher amounts than the Zn-AC series as a function of the metal contents considering the effects of the acid treatment.

• Carbon letters
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.31-35
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• 2003

The specific adsorption behaviors of activated carbons (ACs) treated with 30 wt% $H_3PO_4$ or NaOH were investigated in the removals of NO or $NH_3$. The acid and base values were determined by Boehm's titration method. And, the surface properties of ACs were studied by FT-IR and XPS analyses. Also, $N_2/77K$ adsorption isotherm characteristics, including the specific surface area and micropore volume were studied by BET and t-plot methods, respectively. From the adsorption tests of NO and $NH_3$, it was revealed in the case of acidic treatment on ACs that the $NH_3$ removal was more effective due to the increase of acidic functional groups in carbon surfaces. Also, the NO removal was increased, in the case of basic treatment, due to the improvement of basic functional groups, in spite of significant decreases of BET's specific surface area and total pore volume. It was found that the adsorption capacity of ACs was not only determined by the textural characteristics but also correlated with the surface functional groups in the acid-base intermolecular interactions.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.464-469
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• 2003

In this work, the fragrant oil release behavior of poly($\varepsilon$-caprolactone) (PCL) microcapsules containing SiO$_2$ was investigated. The SiO$_2$ was chemically treated in 10, 20, and 30 wt% hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. The acid and base values were determined by Boehm's titration technique and $N_2$/77 K adsorption isotherm characteristics, the specific surface area and total pore volume were studied by BET. The PCL microcapsules containing SiO$_2$ and fragrant oil were prepared by oil-in-water (o/w) emulsion solvent evaporation method. The shape and surface of PCL microcapsules were observed using image analyzer and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The fragrant oil release behavior of PCL microcapsules was characterized using UV/vis. spectra. The average diameters of PCL microcapsules were decreased from 35 to 21 $\mu$m with increasing stirring rate. It was found that in the case of acidic treatment the fragrant oil adsorption capacity and release rate were increased due to the increase of specific surface area and acid value. In the case of basic treatment, the fragrant oil adsorption capacity and release rate were decreased due to the decrease of sp ecific surface area and the increase of acid-base interactions between SiO$_2$-NaOH and fragrant oil with increasing base value of SiO$_2$.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.756-760
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• 2005

In this study, the effect of $N_2$-plasma treatment on carbon blacks (CBs) was investigated by analyzing acid-base surface values and surface functional groups of CBs. The surface characteristics of the CBs were determined by fourier transformed-infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Boehm's titration method. Electrochemical properties of the plasma-treated CBs-supported Pt (Pt/CBs) catalysts were analyzed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) experiments. From the results of FT-IR and acid-base values, $N_2$-plasma treatment at 300 W intensity on the CBs led to the formation of the free radical. The peak intensity was increased with increasing the treatment time due to the formation of new basic functional groups(such as C-N, C=N, $-NH_3{^+}$, -NH, and =NH) by the free radical. Accordingly, the basic values were increased by the basic functional groups. However, after a specific reaction time, $N_2$-plasma treatment could hardly influence change of surface functional groups of CBs, due to the disappearance of free radical. Consequently, it was found that optimal treatment time was 30 second for electro activity of Pt/CBs catalysts.