Roles of metal/activated carbon hybridization on elemental mercury adsorption.

In this study, the elemental mercury removal behavior of metal (copper or nickel)/activated carbon hybrid materials were investigated. The pore structures and total pore volumes of the hybrid materials were analyzed using the N2/77 K adsorption isotherms. The microstructure and surface morphologies of the hybrid materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. In the experimental results, the elemental mercury adsorption capacities of all copper/activated carbon hybrid materials were higher than that of the as-received material despite the decrease in specific surface areas and total pore volumes after the metal loading. All the samples containing the metal particles showed excellent elemental mercury adsorption. The Ni/ACs exhibited superior elemental mercury adsorption to those of Cu/ACs. This suggests that Ni/ACs have better elemental mercury adsorption due to the higher activity of nickel.