A microporous adsorbent of harmful substances can be prepared from scrap tyres

Volatile aromatic compounds are toxic and carcinogenic substances posing a significant risk to humans and the environment. Their non-negligible source is the burning of fossil fuels or biomass as well as various other industrial processes. One of the representatives of these substances is xylene, which can cause neurophysiological disorders, blood composition disorders, or respiratory diseases. Adsorption, i.e. the capture of a compound on the surface of a suitable material - an adsorbent, is the most frequently used method for removing volatile aromatic compounds from the environment. Its advantage is simplicity, high efficiency, low price and the possibility to use the same adsorbent repeatedly. An important class of adsorbents is pyrolytic carbon, and one of the key parameters predetermining the pyrolytic carbon for this use is its microporosity. In their new study, researchers from CEET (Institute of Environmental Technology and Nanotechnology Centre) together with researchers from other workplaces presented a method of converting waste into a useful product: microporous carbon suitable as a xylene adsorbent was prepared by microwave pyrolysis of scrap tyres. The researchers also focused on the treatment of waste before the pyrolysis, and their new study demonstrates the positive effect of the presence of potassium ions on xylene adsorption. In addition to experimental analyses, molecular modeling carried out at the Nanotechnology Centre was involved. The results of the new study were published in the prestigious international journal Carbon.