Activated Carbon from Used Motor Oils: Synthesis and Application as Supports of Nanosized Fe–Cr Oxides

The activated carbons were produced from waste biomass using a mixture of used motor oil and diverse plastic residues, such as high-density polyethylene and thermoplastic phenol formaldehyde resins. They were used as a host matrix of iron and/or chromium oxide nanoparticles. The obtained materials were characterized in details by a complex of physicochemical techniques, such as low-temperature nitrogen physisorption, Boehm method, Powder X-ray Diffraction, Temperature-Programmed Reduction with Hydrogen, FTIR and Mössbauer spectroscopies. Methanol decomposition to CO, hydrogen and methane was used as a catalytic test. A strong regulation effect of the activated carbon pore topology on the dispersion, phase composition and catalytic behaviour of the loaded metal oxide species was established. Higher and relatively good efficiency of the iron-chromium-activated carbon composites with predominant mesoporous texture has been established. Graphical Abstract