Abstract
Catalytic processing of organochlorine wastes is considered an eco-friendly technology. Moreover, it allows us to obtain a value-added product—nanostructured carbon materials. However, the realization of this process is complicated by the aggressiveness of the reaction medium due to the presence of active chlorine species. The present research is focused on the characteristics of the carbon product obtained over the Ni-Pd catalyst containing 5 wt% of palladium in various quartz reactors: from a lab-scale reactor equipped with McBain balance to scaled-up reactors producing hundreds of grams. 1,2-dichloroethane was used as a model chlorine-substituted organic compound. The characterization of the materials was performed using scanning and transmission electron microscopies, Raman spectroscopy, and low-temperature nitrogen adsorption. Depending on the reactor type, the carbon yield varied from 14.0 to 24.2 g/g(cat). The resulting carbon nanofibers possess a segmented structure with disordered packaging of the graphene layers. It is shown that the carbon deposits are also different in density, structure, and morphology, depending on the type of reactor. Thus, the specific surface area changed from 405 to 262 and 286 m2/g for the products from reactor #1, #2, and #3, correspondingly. The main condition providing the growth of a fluffy carbon product is found to be its ability to grow in any direction. If the reactor walls limit the carbon growing process, the carbon product is represented by very dense fibers that can finally crack the reactor.
Highlights
Due to a growing world production volume of such chlorine-substituted hydrocarbons as dichloroethane, vinylidene chloride, vinyl chloride, etc., the utilization of harmful organochlorine wastes is of great importance [1]
The optimal reaction temperature was found to be 600 ◦ C, which corresponds to the highest yield of carbon product [42]
All parts of the used reactor installations were made of quartz. 1,2-dichloroethane, used as a model chlorine-containing compound, was converted into nanostructured carbon materials, which are considered a value-added product
Summary
Due to a growing world production volume of such chlorine-substituted hydrocarbons as dichloroethane, vinylidene chloride, vinyl chloride, etc., the utilization of harmful organochlorine wastes is of great importance [1]. The production of one ton of vinyl chloride is accompanied by the appearance of nearly 50 kg of organochlorine wastes, represented by a complex mixture of chlorinated derivatives of ethane and ethylene. All these substances are xenobiotics, i.e., they are foreign to the body or to an ecological system and exert highly toxic effects on living forms, including humans [3–5].
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