Effect of precursor composition on the activation of pitch-based carbon fibers

摘要

Pure and silver-containing carbon fibers were prepared from isotropic pitch precursors supplied by Conoco, Inc., and arnKorean research team and activated in carbon dioxide to varying degrees of burn-off. The resulting activated carbonrnfibers (ACFs) were characterized by specific activation rate and nitrogen adsorption studies. Scanning electronrnmicroscopy was used to investigate surface texture, surface pore size, and the behavior of silver particles during thernactivation process. A significant increase in specific surface with the burn-off was observed. However, the reactivity ofrnthe pure and silver-containing ACFs differed. The catalytic behavior of the metallic particles and compositionrndifferences between the pitches are the suggested reasons why silver-containing pitch-based fibers produced from thernKorean pitch were more reactive than those produced from the Conoco pitch. The presence of silver particles, whichrnwere uniformly distributed, led to pitting during activation. The pitting increased with progressive burn-off creatingrnlarger holes (mesopores).