Preparation of Highly Effective Carbon Adsorbents Based on High-Moor Peat from the European North of Russia

The active coals obtained from high-moor peat of the European North of Russia by thermochemical activation with NaOH and various types of pre-treatment (debituminization and pre-pyrolysis) were studied. Based on the results of the low-temperature adsorption of nitrogen, the resulting active coals belonged to adsorbents whose structure was dominated by micropores. The specific surface area of coal pores reached 2330 m²/g, and the total pore volume was 1.44 cm³/g. The introduction of the stage of pre-pyrolysis made it possible to increase significantly the yield of active coals. This increase was 28 or 97% for the initial peat or debituminized samples, respectively; moreover, the sorption characteristics were significantly improved. It has been shown that weakly decomposed high-moor peat of the European North of Russia can be used as a raw material for the production of high-efficiency carbon microporous adsorbents.