Surface reactions during temperature-programmed desorption and reduction experiments with oxygen-functionalized carbon blacks

Abstract

Carbon black was functionalized by gas-phase oxidation using nitric acid vapor at 150 °C, and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) experiments were performed in a plug-flow reactor to analyze the decomposition mechanisms of oxygen-containing surface groups by monitoring evolved H2O, CO2, and CO quantitatively. Subsequent TPD measurements detected an enrichment of acidic surface groups with increasing duration of the HNO3 functionalization from 2 h to 24 h. A significant amount of H2O was released during the TPD experiments, yielding H2O evolution profiles which were deconvoluted into two Gaussian peaks at 162 °C and 228 °C. The combined analysis of the CO2 and H2O profiles indicates that desorbed H2O originates from chemisorbed water bound to carboxylic acid groups and from condensation reactions of carboxylic acids and phenols. Phenols and carbonyls were found to be reduced selectively by H2 during TPR, generating a pronounced H2O peak at 650 °C. A new peak in the CO2 evolution profile appeared at 575 °C in reducing atmosphere, which is assigned to the hydrolysis of anhydrides and lactones with subsequent decomposition. Thus, taking H2O into account is mandatory for a complete quantitative analysis of the decomposition mechanisms occurring during TPD and TPR experiments.