Synthesis of porous carbon-based materials from Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) or Styrofoam
OwnerDipendu Saha, Hippolyte A. Grappeinventors
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Abstract
A process for synthesizing a carbon molecular sieve and an activated carbon from expanded polystyrene is provided. The process includes sulfonating the expanded polystyrene with sulfuric acid in the presence of chlorobenzene, to obtain sulfonated polystyrene; carbonizing the sulfonated polystyrene to obtain a carbon molecular sieve (CMS) with a substantially high degree of porosity, and activating the CMS by an activating agent to obtain activated carbon. A low temperature of, for example, about 50 degrees Celsius, is employed for sulfonating the expanded polystyrene. Heating and cooling operations in the steps of synthesizing the CMS are performed under a nitrogen gas atmosphere.
Claims14
A process for synthesizing a carbon molecular sieve from expanded polystyrene, the process comprising:
- (a) sulfonating the expanded polystyrene with sulfuric acid in the presence of chlorobenzene to obtain sulfonated polystyrene;
- and
- (b) carbonizing the sulfonated polystyrene to obtain the carbon molecular sieve.
A process for synthesizing an activated carbon from expanded polystyrene, the process comprising:
- (a) sulfonating the expanded polystyrene with sulfuric acid in the presence of chlorobenzene to obtain sulfonated polystyrene;
- (b) carbonizing the sulfonated polystyrene to obtain a carbon molecular sieve;
- and
- (c) activating the carbon molecular sieve by adding an activating agent to the carbon molecular sieve to obtain an activated carbon wherein the activating agent is selected from one or more of steam, potassium hydroxide, carbon dioxide, zinc chloride, phosphoric acid, sodium carbonate, aluminum chloride, magnesium chloride, and sodium hydroxide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.