Preparation and characterization of three-dimensional hierarchical porous carbon from low-rank coal by hydrothermal carbonization for efficient iodine removal

Low-rank coal, such as Shengli lignite (SL) and Datong bitumite (DT), has abundant reserves and is low in cost. Due to its high moisture content, abundant oxygen-containing groups, high ash content and low calorific value, low-rank coal is mainly used in a low-cost method of direct combustion. For better value-added utilization of SL and DT, a novel strategy has been developed for the preparation of oxygen-rich hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs) by hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), followed by steam activation. In this paper, firstly, the physical and chemical properties of SL and DT were improved by HTC pretreatment, bringing them closer to high rank coal. Then, the effects of HTC pretreatment and activation temperature on the properties of the HPCs were investigated in detail. The results show that the HPCs have mainly microporous structures (the microporosity of 200-SLHPC-900 is 79.58%) based on the N(2) adsorption–desorption isotherm analysis and exhibit a higher specific surface area (SSA) and larger pore volume (25.02% and 2.69% improvement for 200-SLHPC-900; 4.93% and 14.25% increase for 200-DTHPC-900, respectively) after HTC pretreatment. The two types of HPCs also present good adsorption performance. The iodine adsorption value of lignite-based HPC presents an increase of 13.72% from 503 mg g(−1) to 572 mg g(−1), while the value of bitumite-based HPC increases up to 924 mg g(−1). A preliminary additional HTC step is therefore an effective method by which to promote the performance of low-rank coal based porous carbon. The process of hydrothermal carbonization and steam activation is a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly preparation method, which omits the use of a chemical activator and reduces the step of alkaline waste liquid discharge compared with the route of carbonization and chemical activation.