STUDY OF CARBON-SMECTITE COMPOSITES AND CARBONS OBTAINED BY IN-SITU CARBONIZATION OF POLYFURFURYL ALCOHOL

A sodium form of Wyoming smectite was intercalated with hydroxyaluminu m cations and saturated with furfuryl alcohol; polymerization and carb onization were done to obtain carbon-smectite composites. Carbons were obtained from the smectite inorganic matrices by washing them with HC l and HF. The synthesized materials were studied by X-ray diffraction, inverse gas chromatography, DTA, and adsorption of nitrogen and metha ne. Analyses of data indicate the inorganic matrix acts as a limiting pore size former in the carbons washed from smectite precursors.