Adsorption properties; N-doped organic/carbon aerogels; Nitrogen functionalities; Pyrolysis; Thermogravimetry

Resorcinol-formaldehyde aerogels (five samples, three of them with addition of nitrogen containing precursors-3-hydroxypyridine, 3-aminophenol and melamine) have been prepared by sol-gel polycondensation, subcritical drying and pyrolysis. The pyrolysis of prepared organic aerogels has been studied by non-isothermal TG at constant heating rate. The process of pyrolysis has been found to consist of three steps with the total mass loss 40.2-61.7% (room temperature-1,000 A degrees C). The resulted carbon aerogels have been tested as sorbents of Ni(II), Pb(II) and Cu(II) ions from aqueous solutions. Various relations have been found among the results obtained from the pyrolysis experiments and properties affecting adsorption.