High Content of Sulfur in Liquid Stream Removal via new Carbonous Nano Adsorbent: Equilibrium, Kinetic study

This research evaluates dibenzothiophene (DBT) adsorptive removal from the liquid stream on the graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) as a synthesized adsorbent at 25 °C with 3 g for 600 min. The morphological properties of GCN have been investigated by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The study of the characteristic properties of nano adsorbent proves the suitability of the synthesized GCN in mercaptan adsorption process with the obtained data showing a good agreement with Freundlich model. The equilibrium capacity of DBT adsorption has been calculated at about 39.1 mg/g. This has also been 25.8 mg/g for TBM (tertiary butyl mercaptan). The adsorption capacity has increased by adding to the adsorbent dosage. Thermodynamic studies expose the negative values for ΔS^0 (-8.99 kJ/mol. K), ΔH0 (-21.05 kJ/mol), and ΔG^0 (8.91 kJ/mol), which demonstrate that DBT adsorption has been a natural exothermic process. In addition, this experiment verifies that the substitution of N into the carbon structure improves the DBT removal efficiency in comparison with pristine CNT as an adsorbent. The removal efficiency of DBT onto GCN has been approximately 80%, i.e. 20% higher than that of pure CNT. Results show that the adsorption capacity of DBT as a cyclic source of mercaptan has been higher than Tertiary butyl mercaptan (TBM) as a liner one. The DBT adsorption mechanism is done by π–π electron interactions between the aromatic structures of DBT, lone-pair electrons of the S atoms, and the pyridinic GCN planes band.