Heat-resistant boron–nitrogen doped lignin-derived adsorbent-catalyst for gaseous aromatic pollutants removal

Lignin-based carbon material can be utilized as carbonaceous adsorbents for the removal of toxic gaseous organic pollutants, while the poor heat-resistance limited its widely application. Here in, B–N co-doped lignin carbon (BN–C) with high thermal stability was synthesized, and the optimized BN-C (1:2) exhibited notably improved heat resistance with the decomposition temperature up to 505 °C, and excellent adsorption capacity for o-dichlorobenzene (o-DCB) (1510.0 mg/g) and toluene (947.3 mg/g), together with good cyclic stability over 10 cycles for o-dichlorobenzene. The existence of abundant hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) with good thermal conductivity contributed to the superior heat-resistance of BN-C (1:2), and the high specific surface area (1764.5 m2/g), enriched hydroxyl functional groups and improved graphitization degree contributed to its enhanced adsorption performance. More importantly, BN-C (1:2) supported Ru could effectively remove o-DCB and toluene at wide temperature range (50–300 °C). The present work guided the development of heat-resistant lignin-derived adsorbent-catalyst for gaseous aromatic pollutants removal, which benefits both environmental protection and resource utilization. [Display omitted] •B–N co-doped lignin carbon (BN–C) with high thermal stability is synthesized.•Heat-resistant BN-C demonstrates superior adsorption capacity.•BN-C shows excellent regenerated adsorption ability over ten cycles.•BN-C supported Ru shows superior adsorption-catalysis ability at 50–300 °C.