Enhanced removal for H₂S by Cu-ordered mesoporous carbon foam

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Worker safety necessitates efficient protection against hazardous sulfur compounds.
• Developing adsorbents with low pressure drop is crucial for protective equipment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize copper-ordered mesoporous carbon foams (MeCF) for sulfur compound adsorption.
• To evaluate the protective performance of MeCF against hydrogen sulfide (H2S).

Main Methods:

• Sol-gel casting and wet-impregnation were used to prepare Cu-ordered mesoporous carbon foams (MeCF).
• Morphological, structural, and property characterizations were performed.
• Adsorption performance was evaluated using H2S as a representative sulfur compound.

Main Results:

• MeCF exhibited a sponge structure with high porosity and dispersed copper particles.
• Mesopores effectively inhibited copper particle growth, enhancing stability.
• Cu-ordered mesoporous carbon foams with 3% copper loading (MeCF-3) showed a breakthrough time of 54.7 min and adsorption capacity of 27.8 mg/g for H2S.

Conclusions:

• MeCF-3 demonstrated superior protective performance compared to microporous foams.
• Enhanced capabilities are attributed to small, highly active copper species dispersed within the mesoporous structure.
• MeCF is a promising candidate for H2S elimination in personal protective equipment.