Infrared Spectra and Pyrolysis of Selected Molecular Models of Coal: Insight from Density Functional Calculations

Equilibrium structures and infrared spectra of four typical molecular models of coal have been studied by density functional calculations. Combining theoretical calculations on the coal models with experimental FT-IR spectra of selected low rank perhydrous coals, a plausible molecular representation for this kind of coals was proposed, and its predicted IR spectra reasonably match the experimental observation. Calculations indicate that the cleavage of the C-C bridge bond for the coal structures considered here occurs at about 540 degrees C and the C-O ether bridge bond may break under temperature ranging from 500 to 600 degrees C for the aryl-CH2-O-CH2-aryl ether bond or from 200 to 300 degrees C for the aryl-CH2-O-aryl ether bond, showing remarkable effect of the local structural environment. The coal model containing the carboxyl group may release CO2 at about 300 degrees C through the decarboxylation with a barrier of 69 kcal/mol.