Superhigh selective capture of volatile organic compounds exploiting cigarette butts-derived engineering carbonaceous adsorbent

Abstract Herein, we develop cost-efficient superhigh-performance of engineering carbonaceous adsorbent from cigarette butts using combined wet-impregnated and re-dispersed method of KOH, which optimizes the implant approach of activator, breaking the restriction of selective capture of toluene using traditional activated carbon. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and pore volume of targeted adsorbent can attain 3088 m2·g−1 and 1.61 cm3·g−1, respectively, by optimizing the temperature-dependent synthetic factor effect of the adsorbent. The adsorption capacity of resultant adsorbent for presenting volatile benzene and toluene shows a positive correlation with increasing carbonization temperature of carbon precursor. Besides, we demonstrated the unsmoked and smoked butts derived adsorbents afford feeble difference in saturated adsorbed capacity of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The highest adsorption capacity of sample CF-800 for benzene and toluene in CF group is as high as 1268.1 and 1181.6 mg·g−1 respectively, slightly higher than that of sample UF-800, but far outperforming reported other adsorbents. The predicted adsorption selectivity of CF-800 and UF-800 for C7H8/H2O (g) using the DIH (Difference of Isosteric Heats) equation reach up to ca. 3800 and 7500 respectively, indicating the weak adsorbability of water vapor on the developed adsorbent and greater superiority of the smoked butts derived adsorbents in selective capture of VOCs at low relative humidity in the competitive adsorption process for practical mixed VOCs.