Synthesis of magnetic mesoporous carbon and its application for adsorption of dibenzothiophene

Fuel Processing Technology, Available online 18 September 2012, In Press, Corrected Proof
Synthesis of magnetic mesoporous carbon and its application for adsorption of dibenzothiophene
N. Farzin Nejad a, E. Shams a, M.K. Amini a, J.C. Bennett b
a Department of Chemistry, University of Isfahan, Isfahan 81746‐73441, Iran
b Department of Physics, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada B4P2R6
Abstract
Researchers synthesized magnetic mesoporous carbon (Ni-CMK-3) as an adsorbent for removal of sulfur from model oil (dibenzothiophene, DBT, in n-hexane).  X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analyses revealed the presence of face-centered cubic Ni nanoparticles with an average size of 17 ± 3 nm, and indicated that the carbon support retained its mesoporosity and morphology after immobilization of the metal nanoparticles.
Nitrogen adsorption measurements indicated that the resultant Ni-CMK-3 possesses high surface area (705 m² g^{− 1}), large pore-volume (0.87 cm³ g^{− 1}) and average pore-size of 4.5 nm. The resulting magnetic mesoporous carbon afforded a maximum adsorption capacity of 62.0 mg DBT g^{− 1} of Ni-CMK-3 at the optimized conditions (Ni loading, 20%; adsorbent dose, 5 g L^{− 1}; contact time, 1 h; temperature, 40 °C). Magnetic measurement revealed the ferromagnetic property of Ni-CMK-3 at room temperature with saturation magnetization, remanent magnetization and coercive force of 13.8 emu g^{− 1}, 38.0 Oe and 2.2 emu g^{− 1}, respectively.  This made it desirable for separation under an external magnetic field. Following adsorption of DBT, Ni-CMK-3 could be separated by a magnet and regenerated by extraction with toluene.
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