Study on preparation of activated carbon from pyrolusite-added sewage sludge

Activated carbon was prepared from pyrolusite-added sewage sludge by ZnCl2 activation method. Its structure and performance were characterized by BET, SEM, FT-IR, XRD, O2-TPO and TGA, and the impact of pyrolusite to the preparation of activated carbon was analyzed. The result showed that the specific surface area, total pore volume, micro-pore volume, average pore radius and iodine adsorption of activated carbon from pyrolusite-added sewage sludge can reach 354.198 m2/g, 0.8096 cm3/g, 0.159 cm3/g, 4.6 nm and 558.05 mg/g, respectively, much more than that of activated carbon from sewage sludge. Pyrolusite catalyzed the decomposition of organic matters in the sewage sludge, which provided more framework for the new generated carbon, facilitated the carbon deposit and contributed to the formation of microcrystalline structure simultaneously in the preparation of activated carbon from pyrolusite-added sewage sludge.