The specific adsorption behaviors of activated carbons (ACs) treated with 30 wt% H3PO4 or NaOH were investigated in the removals of NO or NH3. The acid and base values were determined by Boehm's titration method. And, the surface properties of ACs were studied by FT-IR and XPS analyses. Also, N2/77K adsorption isotherm characteristics, including the specific surface area and micropore volume were studied by BET and t-plot methods, respectively. From the adsorption tests of NO and NH3, it was revealed in the case of acidic treatment on ACs that the NH3 removal was more effective due to the increase of acidic functional groups in carbon surfaces. Also, the NO removal was increased, in the case of basic treatment, due to the improvement of basic functional groups, in spite of significant decreases of BET's specific surface area and total pore volume. It was found that the adsorption capacity of ACs was not only determined by the textural characteristics but also correlated with the surface functional groups in the acid-base intermolecular interactions.

• Soo-Jin Park(Advanced Materials Division, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology)
• Jun-Sik Shin(Advanced Materials Division, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology)