Ta. Centeno et F. Stoeckli, THE OXIDATION OF AN ASTURIAN BITUMINOUS COAL IN AIR AND ITS INFLUENCEON SUBSEQUENT ACTIVATION BY STEAM, Carbon, 33(5), 1995, pp. 581-586
It is shown that the oxidation of an Asturian bituminous coal by air,
at 150 degrees and 270 degrees C, has a considerable influence on the
microporous structure of the carbon obtained by subsequent carbonizati
on and steam activation to 50% burn-off. The direct activation of the
coal leads to an open micropore system of 0.2 cm(3)/g, with an average
pore size near 0.8 nm. On the other hand, much larger systems of micr
opores can be obtained in the final products, depending on the tempera
ture of pretreatment in air. The oxidation at 270 degrees C eventually
leads to supermicropores (W-0 = 0.4 cm(3)/g) and to a small system of
narrow micropores near 0.3-0.5 nm. Molecular sieving experiments indi
cate that these micropores are part of the constrictions leading into
50-60% of the larger pores.