Production of activated carbon by K ₂CO ₃ activation treatment of furfural production waste and its application in gas storage

Activated carbon was produced by K ₂CO ₃ chemical activation of furfural production waste. The results showed that the product is essentially microporous carbon whose BET surface area and pore volume when the carbon was activated at 800°C were 2218 m ²/g and 1.04 cm ³/g, respectively. The potential usefulness of resultant carbons for gas storage is closely investigated. The hydrogen adsorption study showed that all the carbons exhibited a fast adsorption rate and the carbon activated at 800°C had the largest amount of adsorbed hydrogen due to its greater specific surface area and micropore volume. The hydrogen adsorption capacity of the carbon activated at 800°C can reach 1.7 wt % at 77K 1 atm and 0.48 wt % at 298K 6 MPa, respectively. The isosteric heat of adsorption with zero loading of hydrogen on carbon with the largest specific surface area can be 5 kJ/mol. The adsorption model based on Tõth equation together with Benedict-Webb-Rubin (BWR) equation of state is proposed for this carbon in adsorbing hydrogen under high pressure.