Templating synthesis of hierarchical porous carbon from heavy residue of tire pyrolysis oil for methylene blue removal

A simple and regulatable strategy was proposed to synthesis hierarchical porous carbon from heavy residue of waste tire derived pyrolytic oil (TPO). Magnesium acetate powder was adopted as a pore creator and adjustor which was mixed with heavy residue and tetrahydrofuran (THF) by grinding. Subsequently, the various pore structure carbons were obtained after evaporation, carbonization and MgO removal. The change in pore size was significantly observed with the magnesium acetate dosage. In this method, the addition of magnesium acetate could result in higher carbon yield. Remarkably, the carbon prepared at optimum condition exhibited higher specific surface area and micro-mesopore structure leading to an excellent performance towards dye contaminant removal. The prepared porous carbon sample exhibited best adsorption capacity (843.5 mg/g) at 298 K for methylene blue (MB). Furthermore, the effect of pH and temperature on adsorption capacity of prepared porous carbon were also investigated. The adsorption process of MB onto porous carbon was favorable according to the Freundlich model parameter (1/n < 0.5). This study highlighted a great potential of using the heavy residue of TPO as a low-cost precursor for porous carbon and simultaneously offered a value-added way to treat the heavy residue of waste tire derived pyrolytic oil.