The application of prepared porous carbon materials: Effect of different components on the heavy metal adsorption

In this study, five typical municipal solid waste (MSW) components (tyres, cardboard, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), acrylic textile, toilet paper) were used as raw materials to prepare four kinds of MSW-based carbon materials (paperboard-based carbon materials (AC1); the tyres and paperboard-based carbon materials (AC2); the tyres, paperboard and PVC-based carbon materials (AC3); the tyres, paperboard, toilet paper, PVC and acrylic textile-based carbon materials (AC4)) by the KOH activation method. The characteristic results illustrate that the prepared carbon adsorbents exhibited a large pore volume, high surface area and sufficient oxygen functional groups. Furthermore, the application of AC1, AC2, AC3, AC4 on different heavy metal (Cu2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, Cr3+) removals was explored to investigate their adsorption properties. The effects of reaction time, pH, temperature and adsorbent dosage on the adsorption capability of heavy metals were investigated. Comparisons of heavy metal adsorption on carbon of different components were carried out. Among the four samples, AC1 exhibits the highest adsorption capacity for Cu2+; the highest adsorption capacities of Pb2+ and Zn2+ are obtained for AC2; that of Cr3+ are obtained for AC4. In addition, the carbon materials exhibit better adsorption capability of Cu2+ and Pb2+ than the other two kind of metal ions (Zn2+ and Cr3+).