INFLUENCE OF ACTIVATION TEMPERATURE ON THE PROPERTIES OF POLYACRYLONITRILE-BASED ACTIVATED CARBON HOLLOW-FIBER

In this work, polyacrylonitrile hollow fiber was oxidized, carbonized, and activated by carbon dioxide into activated hollow carbon fiber. T he effects of the activation temperature on the characteristics of the resulting activated hollow carbon fiber, including the mechanical pro perties, the surface area, and pore size distribution, were studied. T he results show that by activating for 40 min at 800 degrees C, the me chanical properties was better, the surface area was larger, and the p ore size was distributed in three ranges. Higher activation temperatur e led to the decrease in the mechanical strength, the increase in the burn-off degree of the surface, the reduce of the portion of micropore s, and the greatly broadening the pore size distribution. Lower activa tion temperature can only produce pleading on the surface of the fiber instead of open pores, due to the milder attack of CO2. Therefore, th e characteristics of the activated hollow carbon fiber can be controll ed by the activation temperature. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.