Water purification from chlorobenzenes using heteroatom-functionalized carbon nanofibers produced on self-organizing Ni-Pd catalyst

Abstract

The development of effective methods for the processing of hazardous wastes containing chlorinated hydrocarbons still remains a big challenge. Herein, the approach allowing the transformation of chlorohydrocarbons into functionalized carbon nanomaterials was demonstrated for 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) used as a model compound. Carbon nanofibers (CNF) doped with nitrogen and oxygen heteroatoms were fabricated by a joint decomposition of DCE and co-reagent (CH3CN, NH4OH, C2H5OH, and H2O). The Ni-Pd (5%) alloy was used as a catalyst precursor for the CNF synthesis. Pristine Ni-Pd alloy was found to undergo disintegration under the reaction conditions and to induce an active growth of the functionalized carbon nanofibers. The obtained CNF were shown to have a similar segmental structure of carbon filaments and to possess high specific surface area (up to 470 m2/g) and porosity (up to 0.9 cm3/g). According to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data, the nitrogen content within CNF samples prepared using N-comprising precursors was about 1.0–1.7 at%. The total oxygen content reaches 3.6 at%. The obtained materials were demonstrated to be attractive for the dichlorobenzene adsorption from its aqueous solutions.