Universality of mesoporous coal gasification slag for reinforcement and deodorization in four common polymers

Mesoporous adsorbents and polymer deodorants are difficult to implement on a large scale because of their complicated preparation methods. Herein, a mesoporous adsorbent (CGSA) with a specific surface area of 564 m2 g−1 and a pore volume of 0.807 cm3 g−1 was prepared from solid waste coal gasification slag (CGS) using a simple acid leaching process. The adsorption thermodynamics and adsorption kinetics results verified that the adsorption mechanism of propane on CGSA was mainly physisorption. Then the universality of CGSA in different polymers was investigated by introducing CGSA and its commercialized counterparts (CaCO3, and zeolite) into four common polymers. When the filler content was 30 wt%, the average reinforcement effect of CGSA on the tensile, flexural, and impact strengths of the four polymers was 46.68, 83.62, and 211.90% higher than that of CaCO3, respectively. Gas chromatography results also showed that CGSA significantly decreased total volatile organic compound (VOCs) emissions from the composites, and its optimal deodorization performance reached 69.58, 81.33, and 91.09% for different polymers, respectively, far exceeding that of zeolite. Therefore, this study showed that low-cost, high-performance, and multifunctional mesoporous polymer fillers with excellent universality can be manufactured from solid contaminants.

Effects of Mechanical Activation on Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Coal-Gasification Slag

Coal-gasification slag (CGS) was subjected to mechanical grinding by three different methods. We studied the effects of mechanical activation on various physical and chemical characteristics of the CGS, including particle-size distribution, specific surface area, mineral composition, degree of crystallinity, particle morphology, chemical bonding, surface activity and binding energy, anionic-polymerization degree and hydration properties. The results show that there are different effects on CGS characteristics depending on the type of activation applied. Mechanical activation also can increase the specific surface area and the dissolution rates of activated SiO2 and Al2O3, and the major elements (O, Si, Al, Ca) in CGS, whereas the degree of crystallinity and of polymerization of [SiO4] and [AlO6] are reduced by mechanical activation. We also found that the effects of different mechanical-activation methods on the compressive strength and activity were similar and could accelerate the hydration process.