High temperature dielectric properties of spent adsorbent with zinc sulfate by cavity perturbation technique

Highlights: • Cavity perturbation technique is employed to measure the dielectric properties. • Microwave absorption capability of ZnO is poor from 20 °C to 850 °C. • Dielectric properties of spent absorbent and zinc sulfate are influenced by temperature especially in high temperature stage. • Penetration depths and heating curve indicate spent adsorbent and ZnO·2ZnSO₄, ZnSO₄ are excellent microwave absorber. • The pore structures of spent adsorbent are improved significantly by microwave-regeneration directly. - Abstract: Dielectric properties of spent adsorbent with zinc sulfate are investigated by cavity perturbation technique at 2450 MHz from 20 °C to approximately 1000 °C. Two weight loss stages are observed for spent adsorbent by thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimeter (TG-DSC) analysis, and zinc sulfate is decomposed to ZnO·2ZnSO₄ and ZnO at about 750 °C and 860 °C. Microwave absorption capability of ZnSO₄ increases with increasing temperature and declines after ZnO generation on account of the poor dielectric properties. Dielectric properties of spent adsorbent are dependent on apparent density and noticed an interestingly linearly relationship at room temperature. The three parameters increase gently from 20 °C to 400 °C, but a sharp increase both in real part and imaginary part are found subsequently due to the volatiles release and regeneration of carbon. And material conductivity is improved, which contributes to the π-electron conduction appearance. Relationship between penetration depth and temperature further elaborate spent adsorbent is an excellent microwave absorber and the microwave absorption capability order of zinc compounds is ZnO·2ZnSO₄, ZnSO₄ and ZnO. Heating characteristics suggest that heating rate is related with dielectric properties of materials. The pore structures of spent adsorbent are improved significantly and the surface is smoother after microwave-regeneration.