Quantification of activated carbon contents in soils and sediments using chemothermal and wet oxidation methods

Abstract

Activated carbon (AC) strongly sorbs organic pollutants and can be used for remediation of soils and sediments. A method for AC quantification is essential to monitor AC (re)distribution. Since AC is black carbon (BC), two methods for BC quantification were tested for AC mixed in different soils and sediments: i) chemothermal oxidation (CTO) at a range of temperatures and ii) wet-chemical oxidation with a potassium dichromate/sulfuric acid solution. For three soils, the amount of AC was accurately determined by CTO at 375 °C. For two sediments, however, much of the AC disappeared during combustion at 375 °C, which could probably be explained by catalytic effects by sediment constituents. CTO at lower temperatures (325–350 °C) was a feasible alternative for one of the sediments. Wet oxidation effectively functioned for AC quantification in sediments, with almost complete AC recovery (81–92%) and low remaining amounts of native organic carbon (5–16%).