The sequestration of gold by nanoporous, s-doped, activated carbon spheres

Farr, Natasha (2018) The sequestration of gold by nanoporous, s-doped, activated carbon spheres. Honours thesis, Murdoch University.

Abstract

Homogenous spherical nanoporous carbon beads (NCB) were made from pure polymeric precursors and successfully synthesised under varying conditions to improve the adsorption kinetics of gold onto the surface. The aim of this project was to optimize the surface structure and chemistry of NCB for the sequestration of gold. The nanopore structure and surface chemistry of the NCB were tailored through the presence of sulphur-doped heteroatoms, impregnation with toluene solution containing a ferrocene/melamine mixture and the variation of activation time.

The carbon samples were examined using low temperature nitrogen adsorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS). The experimental results from this work have shown that the synthesised NCB exhibit a homogenous, sponge-like surface and improved adsorption kinetics through increased adsorbance speed in comparison to the benchmark industrial carbon. The NCB samples have narrow pores with a diameter of <~2 nm which are distributed between a size fraction of micro and mesopores. Sample MU-4 developed the greatest surface area (1971 m2/g), pore volume (1.113 cm3/g) and kinetic rate constant 0.077 min-1.

Item Type:	Thesis (Honours)
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	School of Engineering and Information Technology
Supervisor(s):	Deditius, Artur and Kowalczyk, Piotr
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/44788

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