Preparation of Coal Tar Pitch-based Mesoporous Activated Carbon and its Adsorption of Benzothiophene and Dibenzothiophene

Abstract： Mesoporous activated carbons (MCs) were prepared from coal tar pitch using nanosized silica as the hard template. Effects of imprinting temperature, mixing ratio of pitch/silica and carbonization temperature on the textural structure and the adsorption of benzothiophene (BT) and dibenzothiophene (DBT) in the model fuel oil were studied. The pore structure and surface topography of the MC samples were characterized by N2 adsorption and SEM. The results show that the main pore size distribution of MCs is close to the size of the template used. With the decrease of mpitch/msilica ratio from 3:1 to 1:4, the specific surface area increased obviously, whereas the mesopore portion decreased. When the imprinting temperature is 320 ℃, mpitch/msilica ratio is 1:3 and carbonized temperature is 800 ℃, a best MC with the specific surface area of 262 m2/g and the mesoporous rate of 72.1% is produced. The mesoporous structure of the activated carbons is advantageous for the adsorption of BT and DBT, and the increase of the mesopore portion is more favorable for the adsorption of DBT.