Preparation of activated carbons from bituminous coal pitches

High-porosity carbons were prepared from bituminous coal pitches by combining chemical and physical activation. The chemical activation process consisted of potassium hydroxide impregnation followed by carbonization in nitrogen atmosphere. The effect of the KOH impregnation ratio on the surface area and pore volumes evolution of the carbons derived from mesophase pitch was studied. The optimum KOH:pitch ratio was fixed to realize a physical activation process in order to increase the textural parameters of the KOH-activated carbons. Physical activation was performed by carbonizing the KOH-activated carbons followed by gasifying with air. The influence of the carbonization temperature and the residence time of the gasification with air were explored to optimize those preparation parameters. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.