Effect of γ-ray irradiation on the structure and electrochemical liquefaction of Shenhua coal

Abstract A novel combination method of γ-ray irradiation and electrochemical hydrogenation was developed for Shenhua coal liquefaction, which was enhanced to generate higher cathodic hydrogenation reaction current and better liquefaction yield. The irradiated coal and the liquefaction products were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller measurement (BET), infrared spectroscopy (IR), element analyses, gas chromatography (GC), thermal gravity analysis–differential scanning calorimetry (TG–DSC), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H NMR). The results showed that γ-ray irradiation was effective in reducing the size of the coal particles and breaking bridge bonds in the coal macromolecules, resulting in the enhancement of the electrochemical reduction and hydrogenation reaction. With the addition of H 2 O and H 2 O 2 , the irradiation reaction of coal was markedly enhanced by the increasing free radicals and liquefaction yield was highly increased to 58.46%. The mechanism of coal irradiation effect on the structure of Shenhua coal was also discussed.