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Activated carbon adsorbents were prepared by chemical activation with waste Zanthoxylum bungeanum branches as raw materials and H3PO4/H2SO4 as composite activator under different dosages of the auxiliary activator H2SO4. The prepared samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area test, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The adsorption/desorption performances of low concentration toluene in the air were evaluated, and its reusability was evaluated by the adsorption/desorption cycle. Adsorption results were fitted using the quasi-first, quasi-second, and Bangham models. The adsorption properties of activated carbon adsorbent for toluene in the air show a "volcanic-type change trend" with the increase of H2SO4 dosage. The toluene adsorption properties of the prepared activated carbon adsorbents from high to low are as follows: BAC02 > BAC05 > BAC01 > BAC10 > BAC00. When the mass fraction of auxiliary activator H2SO4 was 2.0%, the adsorption amount of toluene on the prepared BAC02 activated carbon adsorbent increased by 51%, reaching 511 mg/g. After thermal desorption at 200℃, the adsorption performance of toluene was regenerated. The adsorption process of toluene conforms to the quasi-first-order model and Bangham model. The whole adsorption process can be divided into three stages: outer surface adsorption, intra-channel diffusion, and adsorption equilibrium. The addition amount of H2SO4 significantly affected the specific surface area, pore volume, and pore size distribution of the prepared activated carbon adsorbent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activated carbon adsorption has been considered the most efficient technology toward VOC removal. The waste biomass as alternates solved the problems of high price and nonrenewable of traditional raw materials. The waste Zanthoxylum bungeanum branches were firstly selected as raw materials to prepare activated carbons. Interestingly, the pore structure and surface chemistry can be successfully controlled by adjusting the heating rate. The hierarchical porous carbons exhibited great potential for toluene adsorption. The micro-mesopore structure possessed unique spatial effect; micropores played a dominant role in adsorption process, especially narrow micropores (pore size ≤ 1.0 nm) emerged stronger adsorptive force toward toluene molecules due to overlapping attractive forces from neighboring pore walls. And mesopores not only displayed excellent transport diffusion but also provided adsorption sites. Additionally, the high graphitization degree enhanced the interaction between graphene layer equipped electron-rich regions and π-electrons on the aromatic ring by the π-π conjugated effect. The hydroxyl and carbonyl functional groups served as chemisorption sites and led to higher adsorption amounts. Fortunately, the regeneration can be achieved by thermal treatment at the low temperature (≤ 150 °C) or even gas purging at room temperature (20 °C), which avoided an explosion accident in the process of high-temperature regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]