This study pioneers a transformative approach of discarded orange peels (Citrus sinensis) into highly porous carbon, demonstrating its potential application in energy storage devices. The porous carbon structure offers a substantial surface area, making it conducive for effective ion adsorption and storage, thereby enhancing capacitance. The comprehensive characterization, including X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, Raman spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and XPS verifies the material’s suitability for energy storage applications by confirming its nature, functional groups, graphitic structure, porous morphology and surface elemental compositions. Moreover, the introduced plasma treatment not only improves the material’s intensity, bending vibrations, and morphology but also increases capacitance, as evidenced by galvanostatic charge–discharge tests. The air plasma-treated carbon exhibits a noteworthy capacitance of 1916F/g at 0.05A/g in 2 M KOH electrolyte. long term cyclic stability has been conducted up to 10,000 cycles, the calculated capacitance retention and columbic efficiency is 92.7% and 97.6%. These advancements underscore the potential of utilizing activated carbon from agricultural waste in capacitors and supercapatteries, offering a sustainable solution for energy storage with enhanced performance characteristics.

In NPP (nuclear power plant), boric acid is used as a neutron absorbent. So radioactive boric acid waste are generated from various waste streams such as discharge or leakage of reactor coolant water, floor drains, drainage of equipment for operation or maintenance, reactor letdown flows and etc. Depending on KHNP, 20,015 drum (200 L drum) of concentrated boric acid waste were stored in KOREA NPP until 2019. In previous study, our group suggested the waste upcycling process synthesizing B4C neutron absorber using boric acid waste and activated carbon waste to innovatively reduce radioactive wastes. Radioactive activated carbon waste was utilized in off gas treatment system of NPP to capture nuclide such as I-131, C-14 and H-3. Activated carbon waste is treated as low-level radioactive waste and pre-treatment system for removing nuclide from the activated carbon waste is needed to use B4C up-cycling process. In this study, microwave treatment system is suggested to treat the activated carbon waste. Activated carbon waste was exposed to microwave for a few minutes and temperature of the waste was dramatically increased over 400°C. Nuclide in the activated carbon waste were selectively removed from the waste without massive production of secondary off gas waste.

Activated carbon (AC) is used for filtering organic and radioactive particles, in liquid and ventilation systems, respectively. Spent ACs (SACs) are stored till decaying to clearance level before disposal, but some SACs are found to contain C-14, a radioactive isotopes 5,730 years halflife, at a concentration greater than clearance level concentration, 1 Bq/g. However, without waste acceptance criteria (WAC) regarding SACs, SACs are not delivered for disposal at current situation. Therefore, this paper aims to perform a preliminary disposal safety examination to provide fundamental data to establish WAC regarding SACs SACs are inorganic ash composed mostly of carbon (~88%) with few other elements (S, H, O, etc.). Some of these SACs produced from NPPs are found to contain C-14 at concentration up to very-low level waste (VLLW) criteria, and few up to low-level waste (LLW) criteria. As SACs are in form of bead or pellets, dispersion may become a concern, thus requiring conditioning to be indispersible, and considering VLL soils can be disposed by packaging into soft-bags, VLL SACs can also be disposed in the same way, provided SACs are dried to meet free water requirement. But, further analysis is required to evaluate radioactive inventory before disposal. Disposability of SACs is examined based on domestic WAC’s requirement on physical and chemical characteristics. Firstly, particulate regulation would be satisfied, as commonly used ACs in filters are in size greater than 0.3 mm, which is greater than regulated particle size of 0.2 mm and below. Secondly, chelating content regulation would be satisfied, as SACs do not contain chelating chemicals. Also, cellulose, which is known to produce chelating agent (ISA), would be degraded and removed as ACs are produced by pyrolysis at 1,000°C, while thermal degradation of cellulose occurs around 350~600°C. Thirdly, ignitability regulation would be satisfied because as per 40 CFR 261.21, ignitable material is defined with ignition point below 60°C, but SACs has ignition point above 350°C. Lastly, gas generation regulation would be satisfied, as SACs being inorganic, they would be targeted for biological degradation, which is one of the main mechanism of gas generation. Therefore, SACs would be suitable to be disposed at domestic repositories, provided they are securely packaged. Further analysis would be required before disposal to determine detailed radioactive inventories and chemical contents, which also would be used to produce fundamental data to establish WAC.

In NPP (nuclear power plant), boric acid is used as a neutron absorbent. So radioactive boric acid waste are generated from various waste streams such as discharge or leakage of reactor coolant water, floor drains, drainage of equipment for operation or maintenance, reactor letdown flows and etc. Depending on KHNP, 20,015 drum (200 L drum) of concentrated boric acid waste were stored in KOREA NPP until 2019. In previous study, our group suggested the waste up-cycling process synthesizing B4C neutron absorber using boric acid waste and activated carbon waste to innovatively reduce radioactive wastes. Radioactive activated carbon waste was utilized in off gas treatment system of NPP to capture nuclide such as I-131, C-14 and H-3. Activated carbon waste is treated as low-level radioactive waste and pre-treatment system for removing nuclide from the activated carbon waste is needed to use B4C up-cycling process. In this study, microwave treatment system is suggested to treat the activated carbon waste. Activated carbon waste was exposed to microwave for a few minutes and temperature of the waste was dramatically increased over 400°C. Nuclide in the activated carbon waste were selectively removed from the waste without massive production of secondary off gas waste.

Abstract Recently, the circular economy aiming at elimination of waste and the continual use of resources has attracted a lot of attentions. In the circular system, the resource recovery uses the recycled wastes as the raw material to manufacture new valuable products. This work focuses on a low-cost process, in which an activated carbon (AC) adsorbent was prepared from waste cation exchange resin by calcination and HNO3 activation hydrothermal method. Surface structure and chemistry of AC were characterized by SEM, XRD, FTIR and Boehm titration. It was found that the acid treatment could increase the number of pores and the content of oxygen-containing functional groups on AC surface. In the adsorption experiment, Methylene blue (MB) was used to assess the adsorption capacity of AC. Experimental results showed that the highest efficiency of MB removal was achieved by AC with modification of 4M HNO3, showing the acidification effect on the adsorption capacity of AC. Adsorption isotherms of Langmuir and Freundlich were employed to fit the experimental data. It was shown that MB adsorption on AC is more consistent with Langmuir model that assumes a homogeneous adsorption. In the adsorption kinetic analysis, the adsorption was found to follow the pseudo-second-order model, indicating that adsorption of MB on acidified AC is dominated by chemical adsorption. The study revealed that the waste ion-exchange resin is a proper precursor of carbon adsorbent for MB dye. This low-cost method would specifically reduce the environmental cost of waste disposal.

Pyrolysis fuel oil (PFO) is used for the manufacturing of high-purity pitch for carbon precursor due to its high carbon content, high aromaticity, and low heterogeneous element and impurity content. Pitch is commonly classified with its softening point, which is most considerable physical property affecting to various characteristics of the carbon materials based on pitch, such as electrical and thermal conductivity, mechanical strength, and pore property. Hence, the softening point should be controlled to apply pitch to produce various carbon materials for different applications. Previous studies introduce reforming process under high pressure and two step heat treatment for the synthesis of pitch with high softening point from PFO. These methods lead to a high process cost; therefore, it is necessary to develop a process to synthesize the pitch with high softening point by using energy effective process at a low temperature. In this study, waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was added to control the softening point of PFO-based pitch. The pitch synthesized by the heat treatment with the addition of PET showed the softening point higher than that of the pitch synthesized with only PFO. The softening point of PFObased pitch synthesized at 420 °C was 138.3 °C, while that of the pitch synthesized by adding PET under the same process conditions was 342.8 °C. It is proposed that the effect of the PET addition on the increase in the softening point was due to the radicals generated from thermal degradation of PET. The radicals from PET react with the PFO molecules to promote the polymerization and finally increase the molecular weight and softening point of the pitch. In addition, activated carbon was prepared by using the pitch synthesized by adding PET, and the results showed that the specific surface area of the activated carbon increased by the addition of PET. It is expected that the pitch synthesis method with PET addition significantly contributes to the manufacture of pitch and activated carbon.

This work reveals a modified method for the preparation of activated carbon (P-ACA) using low-cost materials (mix natural asphalt: polypropylene waste). The P-ACA was prepared at 600 °C by assisting KOH and HF. The morphological variations and chemical species of the P-ACA were characterized using SEM–EDX and FTIR. The active surface area, density and ash content of the P-ACA were also investigated. Adsorption properties of P-ACA were used for the thermodynamic and kinetic study of 4-((2-hydroxy naphthalenyl) diazenyl) antipyrine (HNDA), which was prepared as a novel azo dye in this work. The optimal conditions (initial concentration, adsorbent dose, contact time and temperature) of the adsorption process were determined. Adsorption isotherms (Freundlich and Langmuir) were applied to the experimental data. These isothermal constants were used to describe the nature of the adsorption system, and the type of interaction between the dye and the P-ACA surface. The results have indicated that the mixture (Natural asphalt-polypropylene waste) is efficient for the synthesis of P-ACA. The synthesized P-ACA demonstrates the presence of pores on the surface with various diameter ranges (from 1.4 to 4.5 μm). Furthermore, P-ACA exhibits an active surface area of 1230 m2 g−1, and shows a high adsorption capacity for HNDA.

The discharge of dye-containing industrial effluents such as methylene blue (MB) in water bodies has resulted in severe aquatic and human life problems. In addition to this factor, there is the accumulation of banana peel wastes, which can generate ecological damage. Thus, this research purpose a different method from the literature using the banana peel waste (BP) to produce activated carbon (ACBP) by NaOH activation followed by pyrolysis at 400 °C to remove methylene blue (MB). The material was characterized by TGA, XRD, SEM, BET, and FTIR. The influence of dye concentration (10, 25, 50, 100, 250, and 500 mg L−1) was investigated. ACBP presented a well-developed pore structure with a predominance of mesopores and macropores. This morphological structure directly influences the MB removal capacity. The highest efficiency for dye removal was in the MB initial concentration of 25 mg L−1, sorbent of 0.03 g, and contact time of 60 min, which were 99.8%. The adsorption isotherms were well defined by Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherm models. The Langmuir model represented the best fit of experimental data for ACBP with a maximum adsorption capacity of 232.5 mg g−1. This adsorbent showed a comparatively high performance to some previous works. So, the banana peel waste is an efficient resource for producing activated carbon and the adsorption of methylene blue.

Effective processing and use of coal slime is of great significance to protect the environment and save resources. Different coal slimes (untreated with 43 wt% ash content, crushed and flotation treated with 10 wt% ash content, and pre-carbonized) were activated with KOH to prepare porous activated carbon. The results show the activated carbon prepared from coal slime with 10 wt% ash had high specific surface area (3037 m2/ g) and pore volume (1.66 cm3/ g), which was ascribed to the suitable contents of minerals as template and oxygen-containing functional groups. Electrochemical measurements exhibited the best specific capacitance of 220 F/g at 0.1 A/g and the cycle stability of over 100% capacitance retention after 1000 cycles at 5 A/g in 6 M KOH solution. Due to the high specific surface area, superior electrochemical performance, and facile and low cost, developing highly porous activated carbon for supercapacitors is one alternative way for effective use of coal slime waste.

In this study, hair waste was converted into active carbon for the first time and its characteristics were analyzed. As chemical activation tool, zinc chloride ( ZnCl2) was impregnated and then carbonized under different temperatures (250–300 °C). Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images showed an increase in the pore density, radius and volume of pores. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) showed that the samples had an amorphous structure. In Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscope analysis, C=C and N–H vibrations observed in 1515–1520 cm−1 wave number of protein molecules were found to disappear with the increase in temperature. With Raman spectroscopy, the behaviors of D peak at 1344 cm−1 wave number and G peak at 1566 cm−1 wave number expressing structure layout in carbonized structures were analyzed depending on the temperatures. Between these intensities, (ID/IG) the rate was found to differ in direct proportion to temperature. XRD spectrums showed that the samples are converted into a more irregular crystal structure. All these results implied that the waste hair mass could be used as an adsorbant material.

In this study, pitch crosslinked by oxygen function groups was made into activated carbon (AC) and pore structure was observed. The oxygen functional groups were introduced by the addition of waste PET for pitch synthesis. Activation agent ratios used to obtain the AC during the activation process were 1:1, 1:2 and 1:4 (pitch:KOH, w/w). The oxygen content in the prepared pitch was characterized by elemental analysis. Also, the molecular weight of pitch was investigated by MALDITOF. Specific surface area and micropore volume of the prepared AC were determined by the argon adsorption–desorption analysis and calculated using the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller and Horvath–Kawazoe equations, respectively. Micropore fraction of PET-free AC was smaller than that of PET-added AC. At high activation agent ratio, mesopores were created when the micropore structure collapsed. However, in the PET-added AC, due to the oxygen crosslinking effect, the micropore structure and micropore size were maintained even at a high activation agent ratio. Therefore, PET AC was found to have a higher micropore fraction than that of PET-free AC.

The study describes the results of batch experiments on the removal of Reactive Yellow 15 (RY15) and Reactive Black 5 (RB5) from synthetic textile wastewater onto Activated Carbon from Walnut shell (ACW). The experimental data were analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlish, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) models of adsorption. The experiments were carried out as function of initial concentrations, pH, temperature (303-333), adsorbent dose and kinetics. The surface area and pore volumes of adsorbent were measured by BET and BJH methods. The findings confirm the surface area (BET) is 248.99 m2/g. The data fitted well with the Temkin and D-R isotherms for RY15 and RB5, respectively. The most favorable adsorption occurred in acidic pH. Pseudo-second order kinetic model were best in agreement with adsorption of RY15 and RB5 on ACW. The results indicate that walnut shell could be an alternative to more costly adsorbent currently being used for dyes removal.

Magnetic activated carbon was prepared by adding a magnetic material to activated carbon that had been prepared from waste citrus peel in Jeju. The adsorption characteristics of an aqueous solution of the antibiotic trimethoprim (TMP) were investigated using the magnetic activated carbon, as an adsorbent, and response surface methodology (RSM). Batch experiments were carried out according to a four-factor Box-Behnken experimental design affecting TMP adsorption with their input parameters (TMP concentration: 50～150 mg/L; pH: 4～10; temperature: 293～323 K; adsorbent dose: 0.05～0.15 g). The significance of the independent variables and their interaction was assessed by ANOVA and t-test statistical techniques. Statistical results showed that TMP concentration was the most effective parameter, compared with others. The adsorption process can be well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The experimental isotherm data followed the Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum adsorption capacities of TMP, estimated with the Langmuir isotherm model were 115.9-130.5 mg/g at 293-323 K. Also, both the thermodynamic parameters, △H and △G, have both positive values, indicating that the adsorption of TMP by the magnetic activated carbon is an endothermic reaction and proceeds via an involuntary process.

The adsorption characteristics of bisphenol A (BPA) were investigated using activated carbon based on waste citrus peel (which is abandoned in large quantities in Jeju Island), denoted as WCP-AC, and surface-modified with various P2O5 concentrations (WCP-SM-AC). Moreover, coconut-based activated carbon (which is marketed in large amounts) was surface-modified in an identical manner for comparison. The adsorption equilibrium of BPA using the activated carbons before and after surface modification was obtained at nearly 48 h. The adsorption process of BPA by activated carbons and surface-modified activated carbons was well-described by the pseudo second-order kinetic model. The experimental data in the adsorption isotherm followed the Langmuir isotherm model. With increasing P2O5 concentration (250-2,000 mg/L), the amounts of BPA adsorbed by WCP-SM-AC increased till 1,000 mg/L of P2O5; however, above 1,000 mg/L of P2O5, the same amounts adsorbed at 1,000 mg/L of P2O5 were obtained. With increasing reaction temperature, the reaction rate increased, but the adsorbed amounts decreased, especially for the activated carbon before surface modification. The amounts of BPA adsorbed by WCP-AC and WCP-SM-AC were similar in the pH range of 5-9, but significantly decreased at pH 11, and increased with increasing ionic strength due to screening and salting-out effects.

Waste citrus peel-based activated carbon (WCAC) was prepared from waste citrus peels by activation with KOH. The removal of Cu and Pb ions from aqueous solution by the prepared WCAC was investigated in batch experiments. The solution pH significantly influenced Cu and Pb adsorption capacity and the optimum pH was 4 to 6. The adsorption of Cu and Pb ions by WCAC followed pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum adsorption capacity calculated by Langmuir isotherm model was 31.91 mg/g for Cu and 92.22 mg/g for Pb. As the temperature was increased from 303 K to 323 K, the ΔG˚ value decreased from –7.01 to –8.57 kJ/mol for Cu ions and from –0.87 to –2.06 kJ/mol for Pb ions. These results indicated that the adsorption of Cu and Pb by WCAC is a spontaneous process.

This study discusses regeneration of mercury-contaminated, activated carbon from adsorption in the mercuryrecovery process. Mercury in activated carbon was desorbed by thermal treatment, and the regeneration efficiency was confirmed by mercury content and iodine adsorption comparing new and spent activated carbon. Up to 95% of mercury desorbed and up to 86% adsorption performance regenerated at 673 K. Therefore, it is expected that activated carbon can be reused many times by regenerating it through thermal treatment without disposing of mercury-containing activated carbon.

수은의 배출로부터 국민의 건강과 환경을 보호하기 위해 국제수은협약(Minamata Convention on Mercury)이 채택되었다. 수은은 다양한 경로를 통해 환경으로 배출되며 의도적 배출원의 경우 그 양이 상당하여 적정처리 기술 개발이 필요한 시점이다. 활성탄은 가격대비 탁월한 흡착성능 때문에 다양한 산업시설에서 활용되고 있으며 국내의 경우 지속적인 사용량 증가를 나타내고 있다. 이러한 활성탄의 사용 추세와 더불어 환경으로 배출되는 폐 활성탄 또한 증가하고 있다. 일부 폐 활성탄은 지정폐기물로 관리되고 있으나 처리 및 관리에 많은 비용이 소모되어 환경적･경제적으로 문제가 되고 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 환경으로 배출되는 수은의 양을 줄임과 동시에 다양한 산업시설에서 활용되고 배출되는 수은함유 폐 활성탄을 재생하는데 목적을 두었다. 본 연구에서는 수은으로 오염된 폐 활성탄을 재생해보고자 다양한 온도 조건에서 운반가스로 질소(N2, 0.1L/min)를 주입하였으며 0.2atm, 1atm으로 압력조건을 설정 하였다. 또한 각각의 열처리 조건에서 온도 유지시간별 재생효율을 평가하기 위해 온도 유지시간을 10min, 30min, 60min으로 달리 하여 열처리 실험을 진행 하였다. 열처리 후 활성탄은 US EPA Method를 이용하여 수은 함량을 분석하였고 추가적으로 요오드 흡착성능 실험을 통해 수은으로 오염된 활성탄의 재생효율을 평가하였다. 열처리된 활성탄의 수은 함량은 초기 폐 활성탄(30 ppm) 대비 최대 1%까지 줄어드는 것을 확인하였고 요오드 흡착성능의 경우 초기 폐 활성탄 흡착성능의 최대 90%까지 재생되는 것으로 확인되었다. 환경적･경제적 성과를 높이기 위해 현재까지 진행된 연구에 더불어 재생된 활성탄을 재사용한 후 추가적인 재생 실험을 진행하여 재생한계점을 도출해 내는 것이 필요할 것으로 사료된다. 또 한 재생실험으로 폐 활성탄에서 분리된 수은 및 수은 화합물의 추가적인 안정화 작업 및 적정처분이 필요할 것으로 사료된다.

바이오차는 바이오매스를 고온에서 열분해하여 생성되는 탄화물로써, 공기 중 이산화탄소가 바이오매스를 거쳐 탄소 형태로 바이오차로 전환된 것을 저장할 경우, 지구 탄소 사이클의 일부를 고정하는 효과가 있다. 이처럼 저감할 수 있는 온실가스의 양을 이산화탄소로 환산할 경우, 연간 1.0~1.8Gt CO2에 달한다고 보고된 바있다. IEA는 2050년까지 세계 전력 소비량의 7.5%를 바이오에너지로 공급하겠다는 로드맵을 수립한 바 있다. 바이오차는 탄소로 구성된 고체물질로 다양한 분야에 활용될 수 있는데 본 연구에서는 매년 전정되어지는 과수 전정지와 도정과정에서 나오는 왕겨 등의 농업부산물, 가지치기나 간벌재 등의 임업부산물을 바이오차로 제조하는 방법에 대하여 연구하였다. 이를 이용해서 수질정화, 공기정화, 캐퍼시터 등에 활용할 수 있는데 이를 위해서는 활성화 단계를 거쳐 활성탄을 제조할 필요가 있다. 본 연구에서는 다양한 바이오매스 유래의 바이오차를 이용하여 비표면적이 넓은 활성탄 제조방법에 대해 연구하였다.