Abstract
Sewerage sludge sampled at Gunma Prefectural Central Sewage Disposal Plant was carbonized at 500 °C and activated at 850 °C. The resulting carbon material contained 55 wt.% of ash and its specific surface area was around 126 m2/g. When the carbon material was treated with nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, it was suggested that the ash content was reduced to 24~25 wt.% and that nitric acid showed slightly superior performance for the modification. It was also observed that the formation of meso-pores (5 ~ 10 nm), and increase of gross pore volume were made on the material treated with nitric acid. Finally the specific surface area was reached 263 m2/g and as a result the adsorbed amount of benzene on the treated material was improved 2.0 fold as much as that in the untreated one. The additional formation of meso-pores may suggest that the bi-modal structure was appeared in the carbon materials.
