Novel Carbonaceous Adsorbents Prepared from Glycerin Waste and Dopamine for Gas Separation

Glycerin, a low-valued waste from biodiesel production, and dopamine were used as precursors for adsorbent materials. The study is centered on the preparation and application of microporous activated carbon as adsorbent materials in the separation of ethane/ethylene and of gases that are natural gas or landfill gas components (ethane/methane and carbon dioxide/methane). The activated carbons were produced by the following sequence reactions: facile carbonization of a glycerin/dopamine mixture and chemical activation. Dopamine allowed the introduction of nitrogenated groups that improved the selectivity of the separations. The activating agent was KOH, but its mass ratio was kept lower than one to improve the sustainability of the final materials. The solids were characterized by N(2) adsorption/desorption isotherms, SEM, FTIR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and point of zero charges (pH(PZC)). The order for adsorption of the different adsorbates (in mmolg(−1)) on the most well performing material—Gdop0.75—is methane (2.5) < carbon dioxide (5.0) < ethylene (8.6) < ethane (8.9).