Chicken Cartilage-Derived Carbon for Efficient Xylene Removal

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Exploring sustainable and cost-effective raw materials for adsorbent production.
• Investigating microwave-assisted pyrolysis for efficient synthesis of carbon materials.
• Addressing the need for effective adsorbents for volatile organic compounds like xylene.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize biochar and activated carbon from chicken cartilage using microwave-assisted pyrolysis.
• To evaluate the impact of microwave absorbers and power on pyrolysis products.
• To characterize the porous structure and assess the xylene adsorption capacity of the synthesized carbons.

Main Methods:

• Microwave-assisted pyrolysis of chicken cartilage with various microwave absorbers (commercial activated carbon, scrap tires, silicon carbide, chicken bone biochar).
• Activation of synthesized biochars using KOH and K2CO3 with detergent.
• Comprehensive characterization of carbon materials (FTIR, XRF, N2 adsorption/desorption, Raman, proximate/ultimate analysis).
• Testing of xylene adsorption capacity in dynamic systems.

Main Results:

• Activated carbons with a highly developed porous structure were produced, exhibiting a specific surface area up to 1042 m²·g⁻¹.
• Xylene sorption capacity reached approximately 300 mg·g⁻¹.
• Pyrolysis in the presence of silicon carbide yielded valuable gaseous products.

Conclusions:

• Chicken cartilage is a viable and novel precursor for producing high-performance biochar and activated carbon via microwave-assisted pyrolysis.
• The synthesized activated carbons show excellent potential for effective xylene vapor adsorption.
• Microwave absorbers significantly influence pyrolysis product composition, with silicon carbide yielding valuable gases.