This thesis investigates the feasibility of producing activated carbon from polysaccharides. Activated carbons are high surface area solids with rich surface functionality and as a result, find use in a variety of industrial separation processes. The market for activated carbon is already established and growing but there is a huge push to find sustainable alternatives for the raw material used for its production, which is primarily coal. While there exists a significant amount of research on agricultural residues as potential replacements, there is minimal information on using polysaccharides as precursors for the production of activated carbon.
Using the patented PGX process, two separate approaches were employed for the synthesis of activated carbon. The first method relied on the porous network of PGX materials to be maintained during pyrolysis while the second approach used a chemical agent to create porosity during the pyrolysis.
Gas sorption analysis revealed that the PGX structure was not maintained during the pyrolysis stage hence losing all its pore network and extended surface area. Additionally, no significant variation between the PGX and non PGX variants of the chemically activated polymers was observed.
However, it was revealed that the interaction between zinc chloride and pectin produced exceptionally high specific surface area (exceeding 2000 m2 g-1) activated carbon. The produced carbon had a high degree of microporosity (up to 100%) with some flexibility present in tuning the porosity. Elemental analysis revealed the carbon to have high
surface functionality and preliminary adsorption test for removal of heavy metal ions from water (Pb2+ and Cd2+) showed promising results with the in-house carbon performing better than a representative commercial carbon.
This study relies on statistical methods including multiple design of experiment studies and advanced characterization techniques to analyze the manufacturing process and the properties of carbon in an attempt to find the best conditions for producing activated carbon from polysaccharides. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/24020 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Sarkar, Indranil |
| Contributors | Latulippe, David, Chemical Engineering |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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