Increasing the sorption activity of carbon adsorbents by electron-beam processing and fullerene microadditives

The sorption capacity of activated carbon with respect to Cu2+ cations was found to be enhanced considerably upon its chemical modification with fullerenes and during its electron-beam processing. It was discovered that introducing fullerenes (20 μg/g) into activated carbon leads to a change in the chemical composition of its surface, due to changes in the system of conjugated bonds in activated carbon leading to an increase in the content of Bronsted acid (pK a 0–5) and weakly base (pK a 8–11) sites capable of cation exchange on the material surface. We conclude that electron-beam processing (optimal dose, 25–50 kGy) facilitates the rearrangement of bonds on the surface of activated carbon, thereby increasing the number of Lewis base and Bronsted acid sites capable of adsorbing metal ions in accordance with the donor-acceptor and cation-exchange mechanism, respectively.