TY - JOUR
T1 - Secondary waste to highly efficient nanoporous carbon
T2 - The role of acidic minerals in diesel fuel desulfurization
AU - Salonikidou, Eleni D.
AU - Giannakoudakis, Dimitrios A.
AU - Prekodravac, Jovana
AU - Kiartzis, Spyros
AU - Nanaki, Evanthia
AU - Barczak, Mariusz
AU - Fotiadis, Kyriakos
AU - Baltzopoulou, Penelope
AU - Karagiannakis, Georgios
AU - Bandosz, Teresa J.
AU - Triantafyllidis, Konstantinos S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2025/6/5
Y1 - 2025/6/5
N2 - Adsorptive desulfurization of liquid fuels with cost-effective adsorbents, like waste-derived carbons, has been extensively researched. In this work a (bio)char from gasification of waste mixed biomass was chemically treated with H3PO4 and pyrolyzed at 600 °C. The obtained nanoporous carbon (CERAF) was used for the deep adsorptive desulfurization of model diesel fuels, at ambient conditions. CERAF had a specific surface area of 795 m2/g with a micro- and meso-pore structure, and rich surface chemistry. Desulfurization efficiency reached 74 % (5.2 ppmwS of treated solution) starting with low initial concentration of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT, 20 ppmwS) in hexadecane and relatively low amount of carbon (2.5 g/L). Two commercial nanoporous carbons exhibited lower desulfurization efficiencies than CERAF, despite their higher surface area and pore volumes. CERAF also showed the highest efficiency for complex model fuel (mimicking real diesel), containing 4,6-DMDBT and high concentrations of mono- and di-aromatics. Detailed physicochemical characterization suggested that the chemical composition of the adsorbent, especially the presence of silicates provide weak acidic sites promoting specific interactions with DMDBT, enhancing the desulfurization efficiency. In addition, the inorganic matter might play an important role in the carbonization and/or activation of the biochar to the nanoporous carbon CERAF. Overall, the main novelty of this work is in the utilization of a secondary char/waste of mixed biomass to produce nanoporous carbon and in highlighting the effect of specific mineral matter on adsorptive desulfurization.
AB - Adsorptive desulfurization of liquid fuels with cost-effective adsorbents, like waste-derived carbons, has been extensively researched. In this work a (bio)char from gasification of waste mixed biomass was chemically treated with H3PO4 and pyrolyzed at 600 °C. The obtained nanoporous carbon (CERAF) was used for the deep adsorptive desulfurization of model diesel fuels, at ambient conditions. CERAF had a specific surface area of 795 m2/g with a micro- and meso-pore structure, and rich surface chemistry. Desulfurization efficiency reached 74 % (5.2 ppmwS of treated solution) starting with low initial concentration of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT, 20 ppmwS) in hexadecane and relatively low amount of carbon (2.5 g/L). Two commercial nanoporous carbons exhibited lower desulfurization efficiencies than CERAF, despite their higher surface area and pore volumes. CERAF also showed the highest efficiency for complex model fuel (mimicking real diesel), containing 4,6-DMDBT and high concentrations of mono- and di-aromatics. Detailed physicochemical characterization suggested that the chemical composition of the adsorbent, especially the presence of silicates provide weak acidic sites promoting specific interactions with DMDBT, enhancing the desulfurization efficiency. In addition, the inorganic matter might play an important role in the carbonization and/or activation of the biochar to the nanoporous carbon CERAF. Overall, the main novelty of this work is in the utilization of a secondary char/waste of mixed biomass to produce nanoporous carbon and in highlighting the effect of specific mineral matter on adsorptive desulfurization.
KW - 4,6-Dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT)
KW - Desulfurization of fuels
KW - Mineral matter
KW - Secondary waste-derived activated carbon
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105003106035
U2 - 10.1016/j.carbon.2025.120347
DO - 10.1016/j.carbon.2025.120347
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105003106035
SN - 0008-6223
VL - 240
JO - Carbon
JF - Carbon
M1 - 120347
ER -
