Silicon carbide (SiC) monolayers as an effective material for removal of elemental mercury

Elemental mercury is one of the elements found in stack gasses which is detrimental to the ecosystem. Removing elemental mercury from the gas phase is a one of the major challenges since it is soluble in water, chemically stable, and highly volatile. Hence, developing novel adsorbents with high efficiency for removing elemental mercury from gas mixtures is of paramount importance. Here, we used density functional theory (DFT) calculations to help us develop novel adsorbents for removing mercury by investigating the adsorption of Hg-0 onto silicon carbide (SiC) monolayers. We found that Hg-0 atoms are adsorbed chemically onto pure SiC monolayers with adsorption energy of approximately 0.51 eV. Additionally, the adsorption of Hg-0 molecule increased the electrical conductivity of SiC monolayers. Also, there was a charge transport form SiC monolayers to Hg-0, which shows that the interactions between Hg-0 and SiC monolayers are intensive. The proposed adsorption of Hg-0 molecules on SiC monolayers provides useful insights into developing novel adsorbents for industrial removal of Hg-0. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, density functional theory calculations were used to investigate the adsorption of Hg-0 on silicon carbide monolayers. It was found that Hg-0 atoms chemically adsorb onto pure SiC monolayers, indicating the potential of developing novel adsorbents for Hg-0 removal.