Role of the activated carbon surface chemistry in the adsorption of phenanthrene Original Research Article

The influence of the surface chemistry in the adsorption of Phenanthrene (Phe) vapor on oxidized activated carbons has been studied. All the runs were performed in a fixed bed reactor with a process temperature of 150 °C, similar to the observed in the flue gases from energy generation systems. A commercial activated carbon was chosen as raw material. The oxidized activated carbons were obtained by treatment with HNO3 and H2O2 at different concentrations. The new adsorbents were prepared to have similar porosity but different surface chemistry. It was observed that the higher the total number of oxygen surface groups (i.e., both CO and CO2-type groups), the lower the Phenanthrene adsorption capacity. The experimental results confirm that not only non-specific forces between the Phe molecules and the adsorbent surface but also interactions of the electron-rich regions located in graphene layers, with the π electrons of the aromatic compounds could be occurring.