Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes are commonly known as (BTEX) and include volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ambient air. Exposure to some BTEX has been associated with health risks. This study aimed to reduce BTEX on the environment and human health dramatically. This research targeted decreasing the BTEX in an air environment by producing high surface area activated carbon (KA-AC) under optimized synthesis conditions from Ricinus communis as lignocellulosic waste using ZnCl2 solution, respectively. The influence of several activation parameters was investigated on the surface area, such as impregnation ratio, carbonization time, and carbonization temperature. The KA5-AC prepared under optimized conditions showed BET surface area and total pore volume of 1225 m2/ g, and 0.72 cm3/ g, respectively. The optimized synthesis conditions were as follows: 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 M impregnation ratio, 450–950 °C carbonization temperature, and 100 min carbonization time. The characteristics of the optimized KA-AC were analyzed using nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherm, scanning electron microscopy, and pore structural analysis. The results confirmed that the VOCs adsorption on KA-AC followed a monolayer adsorption isotherm over a homogeneous adsorbent surface. It showed the removal efficiency of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and m, p-xylene (R2 = from 0.991 to 0.997). Moreover, the KA-AC exhibited good performance without considerable loss of efficacy throughout the experiments. Accordingly, it is concluded that developing low-cost activated carbon to use BTEX vapor adsorption research could be practical and developments to overcome for utilization in air pollution control.

Hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs) have been successfully prepared by a facile carbonization and subsequent CO2 activation process using corncob as a natural carbon precursor and Mg(C2H3O2)2 as a MgO nano-template precursor. The prepared corncob-based hierarchical porous carbons (C-HPCs) with desirable micropores and mesopores feature the excellent absorbency of gas (i.e., CO2 and CH4) and solution (i.e., methylene blue (MB)). Increasing the ratio of Mg(C2H3O2)2/corncob enlarged the specific surface area up to 1004 m2/ g, micropore and mesopore volumes, CO2, CH4, and MB adsorption capacities (112, 31 and 230 mg/g after 325 min, respectively). The results indicated that the pore structures of C-HPCs can be easily and suitably controlled by the amount of the template precursor and CO2 activation effecting concurrently, which leads to fascinating adsorption capacity for CO2, CH4, and MB.

Using first-principles theory, we investigated the adsorption performance of CoN4- CNT towards six small gases including NO, O2, H2, H2S, NH3, and CH4, for exploiting its potential application for chemical gas sensors. The frontier molecular orbital theory was conducted to help understand the conductivity change of the proposed material at the presence of gas molecules. The desorption behavior of gas molecules from CoN4- CNT surface at ambient temperature was analyzed as well to determine its suitability for sensing application. Results show that CoN4- CNT is a promising material for O2 and NH3 sensing due to their desirable adsorption and desorption behaviors while not appropriate for sensing NO due to the poor desorption ability and for sensing CH4 and H2 given the poor adsorption behavior. Our calculation would provide a first insight into the CoN4- embedded effect on the structural and electronic properties of single-walled CNT, and shed light on the application of CoN4- CNT towards sensing of small gases.

The surface roughness of Al, Ag and Ni nano-powders which were prepared by pulsed wire evaporation method was quantified based upon the fractal theory. The surface fractal dimensions of metal nano-powders were determined from the linear relationship between In and Inln () using multi-layer gas adsorption theory. Moreover, the fractal surface image was realized by computer simulation. The relationship between preparation condition and surface characteristics of metal nano-powders was discussed in detail.

Graphite intercalation compounds (GIC) were prepared by direct reaction of SO3 gas with flake graphite. The intercalated SO3 molecules were ejected by rapid heating to 950℃ under an oxidizing atmosphere for about 1 minute, resulting in surprisingly high expansion in the direction of c-axis. The characteristics of the micro-structure and pore size distribution were examined with a SEM and mercury intrusion porosimetry. The XRD analysis and spectroscopic analysis were used for the identification of the graphite and surface chemistry state. The pore size distribution of the exfoliated graphite (EG) was a range of 1~170μm. The higher expanding temperature the higher expanded volume, so oil sorption capacities were 58.8 g of bunker-C oil and 34.7 g of diesel oil per 1 g of the the EG. The sorption equilibrium was achieved very rapidly within several minutes. As the treatment temperature increases, bulk density decreases.

This study was designed to synthesize mesoporous carbon, porous carbonic material and to characterize its surface in an attempt to adsorption methane gas(CH4). Synthesis of mesoporous carbon was carried out under two steps ; 1. forming a RF-silica complex with a mold using CTMABr, a surfactant, and TEOS, raw material of silica, and 2. eliminating silica through carbonization and HF treatment. The mesoporous carbon was synthesized under various conditions of synthesis time and calcination. Eight different types of mesoporous carbon, which were designated as MC1, MC2, MC3, MC4, MCT1, MCT2, MCT3, and MCT4, were prepared depending upon preparation conditions. The analysis of mesoporous carbon characteristics showed that the calcination of silica stabilized the mixed structure of silica and carbonic complex, and made the particle uniform. The results also showed that hydrothermal synthesis time did not have a strong influence on the size of pore. The bigger specific surface area was obtained as the hydrothermal synthesis time was extended. However, the specific surface area was getting smaller again after a certain period of time. In adsorption experiments, CH4 was used as adsorbate. For the case of CH4, MCT3 showed the highest adsorption efficiency.

The adsorption characteristics of CO2 gas on impregnated activated carbons with MEA (Mono-ethanolamine) and AMP (2-Amino 2-methyl 1-propanol) were studied to improve the adsorption ability of CO2 gas on activated carbon. The equilibrium adsorption capacity of CO2 gas was increased by increment of impregnation concentration up to 40 %, but decreased above 50 %. The adsorption capacity of activated carbon impregnated with AMP was higher than activated carbon impregnated with MEA. The breakthrough was fast according to increment of inlet concentration of CO2 gas.

Adsorption experiments of binary mixed gases composed of acetone/methylethylketone (MEK), MEK/benzene, MEK/toluene, and benzene/toluene were carried out on activated carbon fixed-bed. The variations of equilibrium adsorption capacity according to type and fraction of binary gas were investigated. In case of binary gases composed of acetone/MEK and benzene/toluene, equilibrium adsorption capacities of MEK and toluene were increased according to the increase of fraction of MEK and toluene, but equilibrium adsorption capacities of acetone and benzene were decreased. In case of binary gases composed of MEK/benzene and MEK/toluene, equilibrium adsorption capacities of benzene and toluene were increased according to the increase of fraction of benzene and toluene, but equilibrium adsorption capacities of MEK was decreased.