Abstract

In this study, silver pre-treated activated carbons are transformed using sulfuric acid. From the results of adsorption, each isotherm shows a distinct knee band, which is characteristic of microporous adsorbents with capillary condensation in micropores. In order to reveal the causes of the differences in adsorption capacity and specific surface area after the samples were washed with various strengths of sulfuric acid, surface morphology and external pore structure were investigated by SEM. X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that Ag-activated carbons show better performance for silver and silver compounds removal by post-treatment with acid. The FT-IR spectra of silver-activated carbon samples show that the acid post-treatment was consequently associated with the removal of silver with an increased surface functional group containing oxygen of the activated carbon. The type and quality of oxygen groups are determined on the method proposed by Boehm. For the chemical composition microanalysis of silver-activated carbons transformed by post-treatment with sulfuric acid, samples were analyzed by EDX.