• Carbon letters
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.55-61
• /
• 2004

Adsorption isotherms of p-nitrophenol from its aqueous solutions on two samples of activated carbon fibres and two samples of granulated activated carbons have been determined in the concentration range 40~800 mg/L (ppm). The surface of these carbons was modified by oxidation with nitric acid and oxygen gas, and by degassing the carbon surface under vacuum at temperatures of $400^{\circ}C$, $650^{\circ}C$ and $950^{\circ}C$. The oxidation of carbon enhances the amount of carbon-oxygen surface groups, while degassing decreases the amount of these surface groups. The adsorption of p-nitrophenol does not depend upon the surface area alone but appears to be influenced by the presence of oxygen groups on the carbon surface. The adsorption decreases on oxidation while the degassing of the carbon surface enhances the adsorption. The decrease in adsorption depends upon the strength of the oxidative treatment being much larger in case of the oxidation with nitric acid, while the decrease in adsorption on degassing depends upon the temperature of degassing. The results show that while the presence of acidic surface groups which are evolved as $CO_2$ on degassing suppress the adsorption of p-nitrophenol, the presence of non acidic surface groups which are evolved as CO on degassing tend to enhance the adsorption. Suitable mechanisms compatible with the results have been presented.

• Carbon letters
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2006

The activated carbon "C" was obtained by carbonization followed by activation with steam at 40% of burn-off. Oxidized carbons C-N, C-P and C-H were obtained by oxidizing the activated carbon C with concentrated nitric acid, ammonium peroxysulfate and hydrogen peroxide, respectively. The textural properties of the carbons were determined from nitrogen adsorption at 77 K. The acidic surface functional groups were determined by pH titration, base neutralization capacity and electrophoretic mobility measurements. The cation exchange capacities of un-oxidized and oxidized carbons were determined by the removal of Cu(II) and Ni(II) from their aqueous solutions. The surface area and the total pore volume decreased but the pore radius increased by the treatment of activated carbon with oxidizing agents. These changes were more pronounced in case of oxidation with $HNO_3$. The surface pH of un-oxidized carbon was basic whereas those of the oxidized derivative were acidic. The removal of Cu(II) and Ni(II) was pH dependent and the maximum removal of the both ions was obtained at pH of 5-6. Cu(II) was more adsorbed, a phenomenon which was ascribed to its particular electronic configuration.

• Carbon letters
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.95-100
• /
• 2007

A series of activated carbons (ACs) were derived from sugarcane bagasse under two activation schemes: steam-pyrolysis at $600-800^{\circ}C$ and chemical activation with $H_3PO_4$ at $500^{\circ}C$. Some carbons were treated at 400, $600^{\circ}C$, or for 1-3 h, and/or in flowing air during pyrolysis of acid-impregnated mass. XRD profiles displayed two broad diffuse bands centered around $2{\theta}=23$ and $43^{\circ}$, currently associated with diffraction from the 002 and 100/101 set of planes in graphite, respectively. These correspond to the interlayer spacing, Lc, and microcrystallite lateral dimensions, La, of the turbostratic (fully disordered) graphene layers. Steam pyrolysis-activated carbons exhibit only the two mentioned broad bands with enhancement in number of layers, with temperature, and small decrease in microcrystallite diameter, La. XRD patterns of $H_3PO_4$-ACs display more developed and separated peaks in the early region with maxima at $2{\theta}=23$, 26 and $29^{\circ}$, possibly ascribed to fragmented microcrystallites (or partially organized structures). Diffraction within the $2{\theta}=43^{\circ}$ is still broad although depressed and diffuse, suggesting that the intragraphitic layers are less developed. Varying the conditions of chemical activation inflicts insignificant structural alterations. Circulating air during pyrolysis leads to enhancement of the basic graphitic structure with destruction and degradation in the lateral dimensions.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.79-90
• /
• 1998

One of the objectives of this study were to develop a process for manufacturing activated carbons from agricultural by-products(rice shells and saw dust) and another is to measure the iodine number, ash content and removal ratio of COD. The other is to compare those values with those of commercialized activated carbons. Agricultural by-products based activated carbons were manufactured through the steam-reaction method. A rotary kiln type furnace was used for both carbonization and activation. The optimum operating temperatures for carbonization and activation were $650^{\circ}C$ and $900^{\circ}C$, respectively. For the activated carbons produced under these conditions, the iodine number was 1,127mg/g. Especially, removal efficiency of COD was 61.5% for 40mg/L of wastewater and 30% for 150mg/L of SLS(Sodium Lauryl Sulfate).

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.251-259
• /
• 2018

In general, the charge storage characteristics and overall performance of electrochemical energy devices (such as lithiumion batteries and supercapacitors) significantly depends on the structural and geometrical factors of the electrodes' active materials. The most widely used active materials of electrochemical energy storage devices are based on carbons of various forms. Each carbon type has drawbacks and advantages when used as the electrode material. Studies have been recently carried out to combine different types of carbons, in particular nanostructured carbons, in order to overcome the structure-originated limitations and thus enhance the overall electrochemical performances. In this feature article, we report the recent progress on the development of this novel class of materials (multidimensional nanocarbons), and their applications for supercapacitors. Multidimensional nanocarbons include graphenes/carbon nanotubes (CNTs), CNTs/carbon films, CNTs/fullerenes, and ternary carbon nanostructures. Various applications using these multidimensional nanocarbons have been proposed and demonstrated in the literature. Owing to the recent extensive studies on electrochemical energy storage devices and considering that carbons are their most fundamental electrode materials, the number of reports on nanocarbons employed as electrodes of the electrochemical energy storage devices is rapidly increasing. Recently, numerous multidimensional nanocarbons have been designed, prepared, and utilized as electrodes of electrochemical capacitors or supercapacitors, which are considered next-generation energy devices owing to their unique merits compared to the conventional structures. In this review, we summarize the basic motivations, preparation methods, and resultant supercapacitor performances of each class of multidimensional nanocarbons published in the literature, focusing on recent reports.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.5
• /
• pp.1519-1523
• /
• 2021

Radioactive iodine (¹³¹I) released from nuclear power plants has been a critical environmental concern for workers. The effective trapping of radioactive iodine isotopes from the off-gas stream generated from nuclear facilities is an important issue in radioactive waste treatment systems evaluation. Numerous studies on retaining methyl iodide (CH₃I¹³¹) by impregnated activated carbons under the high content of moisture have been extensively studied so far. But there have been no good results on how to remove methyl iodide at high humid conditions up to now. A new challenge is to introduce other promising impregnating chemical agents that are able to uptake enough radioactive methyl iodide under high humid conditions. In order to develop a good removal efficiency to control radioiodine gas generated from a high humid process, activated carbons (ACs) impregnated with triethylene diamine (TEDA) and qinuclidine (QUID) were prepared. In addition, the removal efficiencies of the activated carbons (ACs) under humid conditions up to 95% RH were evaluated by applying the standard method specified in ASTM-D3808. Quinuclidine impregnated activated carbon showed a much higher decontamination factor above 1,000, which is enough to meet the regulation index for the iodine filters in nuclear power plants (NPPs).

• Composites Research
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2022

The activated carbon is a very good choice for using as supercapacitor electrode materials. Herein, the flower of Shorea robusta, a bio-waste material was successfully used to synthesize the activated carbons for application as supercapacitor electrode materials. The activated carbon was synthesized through chemical activation process followed by thermal treatment at 700℃ in presence of N₂ atmosphere using KOH, ZnCl₂ and H₃PO₄ as the activating agents. The physicochemical analyses demonstrate that the obtained activated carbons are graphitic in nature and the degree of disorder of the graphitic carbons is changed with the activating agents. The activated carbon obtained from Shorea robusta flower (ACSF-K) electrode shows the specific capacitance of ~610 F g^-1 at 2 A g^-1 current density, which is higher than ACSF-Z (560 F g^-1) and ACSF-H (470 F g^-1) electrode material under the identical current density. The synthesized graphitic carbons also demonstrated good rate capability and high electrochemical stability as supercapacitor electrode.

• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.36 no.6
• /
• pp.739-744
• /
• 2012

In this work, we prepared the carbons from synthesized styrene-acrylonitrile carbon precursor. The prepared carbons were chemically activated, and then the activated SAN-based carbons were named as A-SANs. The activations were carried out at different temperatures to investigate the effect of activation temperature on the surface and electrochemical properties of the activated SAN-based carbons for using as an electrode of electric double layer capacitors (EDLC). The characteristics of A-SAN were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), surface area and pore size analysis. Also, the electrochemical behaviors were observed by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge method. From the results, the A-SAN 700 showed excellent electrochemical property and the highest specific capacitance, but these properties decreased when the activation temperature was above $700^{\circ}C$. This is due to the fact that the activation at a temperature over $700^{\circ}C$ causes deformation of micropore structures.

• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.349-355
• /
• 2001

A series of micro- and mesoporous activated carbons were prepared from phenolic resin using a metal treated chemical activation methodology. $N_2$-adsorption data were used to characterize the surface properties of the produced activated carbons. Results of the surface properties and pore distribution analysis showed that phenolic resin can be successfully converted to micro- and mesoporous activated carbons with specific surface areas higher than $962.3m^2/g$. Activated carbons with porous structure were produced by controlling the amount of metal chlorides($CdCl_2$, $CuCl_2$). Pore evolvement was shown to be most effected by the incremental addition of metal chloride. From the thermodynamic DSC data, enthalpy formations(${\Delta}H$) of first endothermic reaction were increase with the incremental addition of metal chloride.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.12
• /
• pp.2141-2148
• /
• 2000

This study is to investigate changes of pore structure with different burn-off degree of steam activated carbons manufactured from domestic anthracite. The activated carbons were characterized by adsorption of nitrogen at 77 K. Steam activation substantially enhanced the porosity of the activated carbons. Burn-off increased linearly according to increasing activation time, and total pore volume and BET surface area increased with burn-off. Activation at $800^{\circ}C$ increased more micropore volume than that at $950^{\circ}C$. Activated carbons manufactured at high temperature had less microporosity than that at lower temperature, but had more developed macroporosity. The steam activation produced an enlargement of pore below $100{\AA}$ diameter in the activated carbons. Furthermore, the porosity in the $6{\sim}40{\AA}$ pore diameters range increased considerably with the degree of burn-off.