Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Publication Title

Coatings

Keywords

green carbon black, scrap tire, adsorbent, cation and anion dye, metal ion

Abstract

This study reports on the highly simple fabrication of green carbon black (GCB) generated from scrap tires with acetic acid to improve the adsorption efficiency for water purification, which is thoroughly compared with conventional carbon black (CB) obtained from petrochemicals. Unlike traditional modification processes with strong acids or bases, the introduction of a relatively mild acid readily allowed for the effective modification of GCB to increase the uptake capability of metal ions and toxic organic dyes to serve as effective adsorbents. The morphological features and thermal decomposition patterns were examined by electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The surface functional groups were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The structural information (ratio of D-defects/G band-graphitic domains) obtained by Raman spectroscopy clearly suggested the successful fabrication of GCB (ID/IG ratio of 0.74), which was distinctively different from typical CB (ID/IG ratio of 0.91). In the modified GCB, the specific surface area (SBET) gradually increased with the reduction of pore size as a function of acetic acid content (52.97 m2/g for CB, 86.64 m2/g for GCB, 102.10-119.50 m2/g for acid-treated GCB). The uptake capability of the modified GCB (312.5 mg/g) for metal ions and organic dyes was greater than that of the unmodified GCB (161.3 mg/g) and typical CB (181.8 mg/g), presumably due to the presence of adsorbed acid. Upon testing them as adsorbents in an aqueous solution, all these carbon materials followed the Langmuir isotherm over the Freundlich model. In addition, the removal rates of cationic species (>70% removal of Cu2+ and crystal violet in 30 min) were much faster and far greater than those of anionic metanil yellow (<40% removal in 3 h), given the strong electrostatic interactions. Thus, this work demonstrates the possibility of recycling waste tires in the powder form of GCB as a cost-effective and green adsorbent that can potentially substitute traditional CB, and the modification strategy provides a proof of concept for developing simple fabrication guidelines of other carbonaceous materials.

Funding Source

This research was supported by the Bisa Research Grant of Keimyung University in 2023. The FESEM multi-user facility was acquired with the support from the Division of Material Research (DMR), National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award # 2116612).

DOI

10.3390/coatings14040389

Comments

First published in Coatings 2024, 14(4), 389; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings14040389.

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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