Abstract
One-step pyrolysis was applied to synthesize mesoporous charred carbon from used cigarette filters. Proximate analysis suggested that cigarette filters are decent carbon precursors due to their moderate carbon (around 11 %) and low ash (around 0.1 %) contents. To investigate the effects of pyrolysis parameters on porous surface area, a full factorial design of experiment including heating rate, soaking time and pyrolysis temperature was used with each factor at three levels. The analysis of variance revealed that the temperature and heating rate had the most significant effects on total surface area of the synthesized carbon. Response surface model (RSM) was applied to best fit a surface through the experimental data. It was seen that the quadratic RSM model with a reasonable R2 value of 63 % was the best developed model. The maximum BET surface area (597 m2/g) was reached at a pyrolysis temperature of 900 °C when the precursor was heated at 5 °C/min and hold at this temperature for 3 h. The produced N2 adsorption–desorption isotherm showed a certain degree of mesoporosity in the charred carbon with an average pore size of 3.32 nm calculated by Barrett–Joyner–Halenda method. Scanning electron microscopy also showed the presence of macroporosity on the charred carbon surface. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed the presence of acidic surface functional groups such as carboxyl and phenol which were accordingly confirmed by Boehm titration. In addition, Boehm titration showed that the produced carbon’s surface was more acidic than basic in nature.
Highlights
One-step pyrolysis was applied to synthesize mesoporous charred carbon from used cigarette filters
To investigate the effects of pyrolysis parameters on porous surface area, a full factorial design of experiment including heating rate, soaking time and pyrolysis temperature was used with each factor at three levels
The maximum BET surface area (597 m2/g) was reached at a pyrolysis temperature of 900 °C when the precursor was heated at 5 °C/min and hold at this temperature for 3 h
Summary
One-step pyrolysis was applied to synthesize mesoporous charred carbon from used cigarette filters. There have been numerous research works done to produce and investigate low-cost adsorbents These studies have been focused on the use of waste materials and their ability to remove certain substances including organic and inorganic from waste streams (Dias et al 2007). Among non-conventional wastes, plastic wastes, different industrial wastes such as fly ash, pitch as well as polymeric residues, tires and sewage sludge have been studied and used to produce active carbons Carbons produced from these wastes have found their ways in the adsorption of a broad range of substances including phenol and its derivatives, various kinds of dyes and heavy metals such as nickel, mercury and copper (Dias et al 2007). This contamination by cigarette butts thrown out of the windows of moving cars, dropped on sidewalks and left on the beach is serious when they eventually find their ways to the street drains and to the streams, rivers and oceans (Novotny et al 2009)
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