Catalytic pyrolysis of wood-plastic composite waste over activated carbon catalyst for aromatics production: Effect of preparation process of activated carbon

In this work, the catalytic pyrolysis of a corn stalk/high-density polyethylene composite for aromatics production over activated carbon in a fixed-bed reactor was investigated. The effects of the carbonization temperature and H3PO4 impregnation ratio on the product distributions were studied. Increasing the H3PO4 impregnation ratio (0–2.0) and carbonization temperature (600–750 °C) was found to enhance the selectivity of aromatics. When the activated carbon was synthesized using an H3PO4 impregnation ratio of 1:1 and a carbonization temperature of 700 °C, the yield of aromatics reached a maximum of 86.11% and the selectivity of mono-aromatics reached 64.01%. Moreover, the catalytic performances of biochars obtained at various carbonization temperatures were also studied. No significant catalytic activity of biochar for the formation of aromatics was observed due to the absence of P-containing active functional groups. This work provides an approach for the conversion of wood-plastic composite waste into valuable aromatic production using a low-cost activated carbon catalyst.