Preparation and Modification of Micro-Mesoporous Carbon Materials for Toluene Adsorption

In the process of toluene adsorption, the choice of adsorbent is the key. In this work, micro-mesoporous carbon materials were prepared and characterized. The synthesis process was performed by using MCM-41 as the template, and sucrose and furfuryl alcohol as the carbon source, respectively. The toluene adsorption capacity of studied adsorbents was evaluated under different toluene initial concentration, temperature and bed height. In order to further improve the adsorption capacity, nitric acid was used for modification of the selected adsorbent. The adsorption performance after modification was also investigated. The prepared carbon materials were characteristic of typical type IV isotherms and pore size distribution was focused on micropores and mesopores. Compared with MCM-41, the prepared carbon materials showed high toluene adsorption capacity. After modification the specific surface area and oxygen groups of adsorbent were increased, making the adsorption capacity increase from 185.3 mg/g to a maximum value of 514.7 mg/g. The adsorption capacity of adsorbent mainly depended on its surface area and surface chemical property.