TEM Study of Micropores Developed on Pitch-based Carbon Fiber

Isotropic pitch-based carbon fiber has been activated by steam diluted in nitrogen in order to characterize the microporosity. Especially, 40 wt% burn-off ACFs were prepared from different conditions to compare the pore structure and size. The ACFs were thinly sliced to investigate the inside pores by TEM and image analyzer. As expected, the adsorption characteristics of these ACFs were quite different from one another because of different pore structure and size. Most pores are not slit-shaped but rather round. Small round micropores become broad and irregular as increasing the activation time and temperature.