Abstract
Elemental mercury (Hg(0)) emission from industrial boilers equipped in factories such as coal-fired power plants poses serious hazards to the environment and human health. Herein, an iron-modified biomass carbon (Fe/BC) magnetic adsorbent was prepared by a one-step method using pepper straw waste as raw material and potassium oxalate and ferric nitrate as activator and catalyst precursor, respectively. A fixed-bed reactor was used to evaluate the Hg(0) removal performance of the Fe/BC adsorbent. The synthesized adsorbent showed a wide temperature window for Hg(0) removal. In a N(2) + O(2) atmosphere, the removal efficiency toward Hg(0) was 97.6% at 150 °C. Further, O(2) or SO(2) could promote the removal of Hg(0), while NO could inhibit the conversion of Hg(0) over the Fe/BC adsorbent. The consequence of XPS and Hg-TPD showed that lattice oxygen in Fe(2)O(3) and chemisorbed oxygen were the main active sites for Hg(0) removal, and HgO was the main mercury species on used Fe/BC. Moreover, Fe/BC adsorbent showed a good regeneration and magnetization performance, which was conducive to the cost reduction of actual industrial application. This study provides a facile approach for efficient removal of Hg(0) using biomass-derived carbon material.