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USE OF A NON-THERMAL PLASMA TECHNIQUE TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF CHLORINE ACTIVE SITES ON BIOCHAR FOR IMPROVED MERCURY REMOVAL
Wang, T., J. Liu, Y. Zhang, H. Zhang, W.-Y. Chen, P. Norris, and W.-P. Pan.
Chemical Engineering Journal 331:536-544(2018)

Biochar was prepared from rice straw (R6), tobacco straw (T6), corn straw (C6), wheat straw (W6), millet straw (M6), and black bean straw (B6) in high purity nitrogen at 600 ° C. The biochars were modified with chlorine non-thermal plasma to increase Cl active sites to promote mercury removal efficiency. Modification by chlorine plasma increased the Hg0 removal efficiency of the biochars from ~8.0% to 80.0%. The Hg0 adsorption capacity of T6 was 36 times higher after chlorine plasma modification. Plasma caused the biochar surface to become porous and promoted thermal stability. Sulfur content remained in the range of 0.5-0.7%, and elemental sulfur, organic sulfur, and sulfides were converted to sulfate. The relative intensity of the oxygen functional groups (C-O, C=O, and C(O)-O-C) was enhanced, while the oxygen content in biochar decreased. The improved mercury removal efficiency was attributed to the increased number of C-Cl groups on the surface of the biochars which functioned as activated sites and promoted the Hg0 removal efficiency. https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10057034



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