TAILORED ACTIVATED CARBON ADSORBENTS WITH HIGH SURFACE AREA PREPARED VIA ACID-MEDIATED DEHYDRATION OF GLYCEROL

摘要

Biodiesel use continues to grow throughout the US and world [1]. Widely thought to be clean energy, the required transesterification process generates a 10 vol% glycerol by-product [2]. Rapid increases in biodiesel production floods the glycerol market, exceeding demand by traditional applications [3, 4] to generate economic and environmental concern [5]. There is an opportunity to convert this surplus glycerol into a value-added product, such as activated carbon (AC) [6, 7]. Fundamental research, therefore, should identify preferred preparation conditions and unique physical, chemical, and adsorption properties of AC produced from glycerol.