PREPARATION OF TRANSITION METAL-CARBON MATERIAL FROM POLYACRYLONITRILE INCORPORATED WITH INORGANIC SALTS

The incorporation of CoCl2 and FeCl2 into polyacrylonitrile (PAN) modi fied the carbonization behaviour and led to the development of carbon with a narrow pore radius ranging from 1.8-2.3 nm and a high surface a rea ranging from 182-190 m(2) g(-1). The carbon obtained was of better structural organization than from the original PAN, having an interla yer spacing, d(002), of 0.342 nm and a crystallite dimension along the c-axis, L(c), of 5.5-8.5 nm. The transition metals incorporated into carbon exhibited a strong resistance to hydrochloric acid solution tre atment, suggesting high dispersion and strong anchoring of the transit ion metals in the carbon matrix. These non-crystallized and homogeneou sly distributed transition metals in carbon seem to promise some inter esting applications, for example as supports in catalysis.