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Carbon foam is a sophisticated porous material with wide applications that depend on its structure, low density, thermal conductivity and electrical characteristics. This study deals with the preparation of carbon foam by the thermo-oxidative modification with HNO3 of mixtures containing different organic materials with appropriate chemical characteristics—furfural and tar pitch derived from RDF. Carbon foam is characterized by thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, elemental analysis, Raman spectroscopy, N2 sorption, infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron spectroscopy. The investigation of adsorption activity of carbon foam towards nickel (II) in water solution is carried out. Experimental results fit very well with the Langmuir adsorption model. The carbon foam, obtained from tar pitch derived from RDF and furfural, shows a high adsorption capacity towards nickel ions (203.67 mg/g). The high adsorption capacity could be explained by the properties of the adsorbent—moderately high surface area, micro-mesoporous texture and presence of oxygen-containing surface groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon foam is an advanced porous material with multiple high-technology applications, due to its cell structure, light weight, high thermal stability, high thermal and electrical conductivity, as well as exceptional electromagnetic and acoustic properties. This work is dedicated to development of a new method for synthesis of carbon foam from a mixture of organic substances with suitable chemical properties and appropriate oxidation treatment, which allows synthesis of foam without the use of high pressure and stabilization step. The appropriate treatment conditions (thermo-oxidative modification with conc. H 2 SO 4 or conc. HNO 3 of mixtures of furfural and industrial coal tar pitch in different proportions), allowing the formation of porous structure of the resulting carbon foam, are established. The properties of the synthesized carbon foam can be controlled by varying the composition of the starting mixture and the type of oxidant. The formation mechanism of the porous structure of carbon foams is considered. Obtained carbon foam samples are characterized by XRD, Scanning Electron Microscopy, TG and DSC analysis, elemental analysis. The proposed new, less energy consuming synthesis method enables the production of carbon foam with very good physico-chemical properties. Unlabelled Image • Graphite carbon foams are synthesized from mixtures of organic substances. • The precursor mixture is composed of furfural and industrial coal tar pitch. • The precursor is subjected to thermo-oxidative modification with H 2 SO 4 and HNO 3. • Modification method allows avoiding the use of pressure and stabilization step. • The synthesized material has very good physico-chemical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]