• Carbon letters
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.70-80
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• 2011

Two pitches with different average molecular structures were electrospun and compared in terms of the properties of their fibers after oxidative stabilization, carbonization, and activation. The precursor with a higher molecular weight and greater content of aliphatic groups (Pitch A) resulted in better solubility and spinnability compared to that with a lower molecular weight and lower aliphatic group content (Pitch B). The electrical conductivity of the carbon fiber web from Pitch A of 67 S/cm was higher than that from Pitch B of 52 S/cm. The carbon fiber web based on Pitch A was activated more readily with lower activation energy, resulting in a higher specific surface area compared to the carbon fiber based on Pitch B (Pitch A, 2053 $m^2/g$; Pitch B, 1374 $m^2/g$).

• Carbon letters
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.93-98
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• 2002

Short pitch fibers were prepared from petroleum based isotropic precursor pitch by melt-blown technology. The pitch fibers were stabilized in oxidizing condition, followed by steam activations at various conditions. The fiber surface and pore structures of the activated carbon fibers (ACFs) were respectively characterized by using SEM and applying BET theory from nitrogen adsorption at 77 K. The weight loss of the oxidized fiber was proportional to activation temperature and activation time, independently. The adsorption isotherms of the nitrogen on the ACFs were constructed and analyzed to be as Type I consisting of micropores mainly. The specific surface area of the ACFs proportionally increased with the weight loss at a given activation temperature. The specific surface area was ranged 850~1900 $m^2/g$ with pores of narrow distribution in sizes. The average pore size was ranged 5.8~14.1 ${\AA}$ with the larger value from the more severe activation condition.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.318-324
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• 2018

In this study, PAN (polyacrylonitrile) based activated carbon fibers were prepared by water vapor activation method which is a physical activation method. Activation was performed with temperature and time as parameters. When the activation temperature reached 700, 750 and $800^{\circ}C$, the activation was carried out under the condition of a water vapor flow rate of 200 ml/min. In order to analyze the pore structure of activated carbon fibers, the specific surface area ($S_{BET}$) was measured by the adsorption/desorption isotherm of nitrogen gas and AFM analysis was performed for the surface analysis. Tensile tests were also conducted to investigate the effect of the pore structure on mechanical properties of fibers. As a result, the $S_{BET}$ of fibers after the activation showed a value of $448{\sim}902m^2/g$, the tensile strength decreased 58.16~84.92% and the tensile modulus decreased to 69.81~83.89%.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.42 no.7 s.278
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• pp.469-474
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• 2005

Activated Carbon Fibers (ACFs) are widely used as adsorbents in technologies related to pollution abatement due to their highly porous structure and large adsorption capacity. The porous structure and surface area of ACFs depends strongly on both the activation processes arid the nature .of the precursors. The chemical activation with hydroxides has recently been, of great interest as it permits the preparation of activated carbon fibers with highly developed porosity. In this work, OXI-PAN fiber used as precursor for the preparation of activated carbon fibers by chemical activation with KOH and NaOH. The affects of several activation conditions on the surface properties, pore size distribution and adsorption capacity of Ag ion and Iodine ion on ACFs studied.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.321-327
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• 2012

The production of functional activated carbon materials starting from inexpensive natural precursors using environmentally friendly and economically effective processes has attracted much attention in the areas of material science and technology. In particular, the use of plant biomass to produce functional carbonaceous materials has attracted a great deal of attention in various aspects. In this study the preparation of activated carbon has been attempted from rice husks via a chemical activation-assisted microwave system. The rice husks were milled via attrition milling with aluminum balls, and then carbonized under purified $N_2$. The operational parameters including the activation agents, chemical impregnation weight ratio of the calcined rice husk to KOH (1:1, 1:2 and 1:4), microwave power heating within irradiation time (3-5 min), and the second activation process on the adsorption capability were investigated. Experimental results were investigated using XRD, FT-IR, and SEM. It was found that the BET surface area of activated carbons irrespective of the activation agent resulted in surface area. The activated carbons prepared by microwave heating with an activation process have higher surface area and larger average pore size than those prepared by activation without microwave heating when the ratio with KOH solution was the same. The activation time using microwave heating and the chemical impregnation ratio with KOH solution were varied to determine the optimal method for obtaining high surface area activated carbon (1505 $m^2$/g).

• Carbon letters
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.201-205
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• 2010

Activated carbons are well known as adsorbents for gases and vapors. Micro porous carbons are used for the sorption/separation of light gases, whereas, carbon with bigger pore size are applied for removal of large molecules. Therefore, the control of pore size of activated carbon plays a vital role for their use in specific applications. In the present work, steam activation parameters have been varied to control pore size of the resulting activated carbon. It was found that flow rate of steam has profound effect on both surface characteristic and surface morphology. The flow rate of steam was optimized to retain monolith structure as well as higher surface area.

• Carbon letters
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• v.20
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• pp.32-38
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• 2016

In this study, cellulose nanoplates (CNPs) were fabricated using cellulose nanocrystals obtained from commercial microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). Their pyrolysis behavior and the characteristics of the product carbonaceous materials were investigated. CNPs showed a relatively high char yield when compared with MCC due to sulfate functional groups introduced during the manufacturing process. In addition, pyrolyzed CNPs (CCNPs) showed more effective chemical activation behavior compared with MCC-induced carbonaceous materials. The activated CCNPs exhibited a microporous carbon structure with a high surface area of 1310.6 m²/g and numerous oxygen heteroatoms. The results of this study show the effects of morphology and the surface properties of cellulose-based nanomaterials on pyrolysis and the activation process.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2005.07c
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• pp.2010-2012
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• 2005

Activated carbon was activated with chemical treatment to attain high surface area with porous structure. We have been considered activated carbon is the ideal material for high voltage electric double layer capacitor due to their high specific surface area, good conductivity and chemical stability. In this study we found that increase in electrochemical capacitance due to activated carbon. Also chemically activated carbon and water treatment have resulted larger capacitance and also exhibits better electrochemical behavior, and is about 15% more than in untreated state. The structural change in activated carbon through chemical treatment activation was investigated by using SEM and XRD. In this study, the dependence of the activation behavior with KOH in the micro structure of host materials will be discussed. Furthermore, the relation to the electric double layer capacitance, especially the specific capacitance per unit area, is also discussed.

• Carbon letters
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.21-25
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• 2011

A novel electrode for an NO gas sensor was fabricated from electrospun polyacrylonitrile fibers by thermal treatment to obtain carbon fibers followed by chemical activation to enhance the activity of gas adsorption sites. The activation process improved the porous structure, increasing the specific surface area and allowing for efficient gas adsorption. The gas sensing ability and response time were improved by the increased surface area and micropore fraction. High performance gas sensing was then demonstrated by following a proposed mechanism based on the activation effects. Initially, the pore structure developed by activation significantly increased the amount of adsorbed gas, as shown by the high sensitivity of the gas sensor. Additionally, the increased micropore fraction enabled a rapid sensor response time due to improve the adsorption speed. Overall, the sensitivity for NO gas was improved approximately six-fold, and the response time was reduced by approximately 83% due to the effects of chemical activation.

• Carbon letters
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.180-184
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• 2003

The role of KOH in the one-stage KOH-activation of rice straws was studied using FTIR, XPS, TGA, and DTG techniques. It was found that at the impregnation, KOH extracts to some extent the lignin component from rice straw and reacts with hydroxyl groups. On heat-treatment, the impregnated KOH facilitates intermolecular condensation reaction on one hand but retards the thermal degradation of cellulose molecules on the other hand. The oxygen-containing surface functional groups newly created by oxidation of KOH may facilitate the bulk, not controlled, consumption of carbon atoms so that the effective porosities may not be able to be developed by the one-stage activation process.