Interactions of graphene with oxidants in a mixed atmosphere: synergistic effects of O2/H2O and O2/CO2 on gasification reactivity and kinetics

Abstract

The gasification of carbon with O₂, CO₂, and H₂O oxidants plays an important role in several energy-based applications. As most of the industrial gasification processes are conducted under mixed-atmosphere conditions, the oxidation of carbon in binary oxidant mixtures becomes crucially important. Using reactive force-field (ReaxFF) potentials, extensive MD simulations were carried out on the oxidation behavior of graphene in mixed O₂/H₂O and O₂/CO₂ environments for a range of gas compositions and temperatures. A graphene sheet with a line defect comprising of eight and four-membered rings was used as the starting carbon structure. In addition to enhanced carbon gasification with oxygen additions, MD simulations showed synergistic interactions between different oxidants and their net influence on the overall reactivities. The gasification levels achieved under the binary system were higher than the linear combination of contributions from individual oxidants. The addition of ∼40% O₂ in the binary mix was identified as the region with the highest reactivity during the initial stages of gasification. The oxidation reactions with oxygen were found to start instantaneously in the presence of H₂O or CO₂ instead of the usual initial delay. A very fast reaction kinetics was also observed in the initial stages in the presence of oxygen. Our results show that the gasification reactions under H₂O and CO₂ started at lower temperatures than O₂ thereby creating a partially oxidized structure. Due to the presence of a large number of activation sites, very high rates of gasification were achieved with oxygen. These findings could help identify optimal oxidant compositions towards maximizing carbon gasification and minimizing CO₂ emissions.