• Carbon letters
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• 제4권4호
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• pp.180-184
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• 2003

The role of KOH in the one-stage KOH-activation of rice straws was studied using FTIR, XPS, TGA, and DTG techniques. It was found that at the impregnation, KOH extracts to some extent the lignin component from rice straw and reacts with hydroxyl groups. On heat-treatment, the impregnated KOH facilitates intermolecular condensation reaction on one hand but retards the thermal degradation of cellulose molecules on the other hand. The oxygen-containing surface functional groups newly created by oxidation of KOH may facilitate the bulk, not controlled, consumption of carbon atoms so that the effective porosities may not be able to be developed by the one-stage activation process.

• Carbon letters
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.1-7
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• 2011

In the present study, the removal of Pb (II) ions on oxidized activated carbons (ACs) was investigated. ACs were derived from activation of indigenous cotton stalks waste with potassium hydroxide (KOH) in two-stage process. The KOH-ACs were subjected to liquid-phase oxidation with hot $HNO_3$ and one untreated sample was included for comparison. The obtained carbons were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), slurry pH and $N_2$-adsorption at 77 K, respectively. Adsorption capacity of Pb (II) ions on the resultant carbons was determined by batch equilibrium experiments. The experimental results indicated that the oxidation with nitric acid was associated with a significant increase in mass of yield as well as a remarkable reduction in internal porosity as compared to the untreated carbon. The AC-800N revealed higher adsorption capacity than that of AC-800, although the former sample exhibited low surface area and micropore volume. It was observed that the adsorption capacity enhancement attributed to pore widening, the generation of oxygen functional groups and potassium containing compounds leading to cation-exchange on the carbon surface. These results show that the oxidized carbons represented prospective adsorbents for enhancing the removal of heavy metals from wastewater.