Carbonization of bead-shaped polymers for application in adsorption and in composite membranes

Synthetic copolymers and biopolymers, as well as strong acid ion exchangers, were carbonized in the presence of inorganic salts to obtain products in bead form with a high specific surface area and good sorption and mechanical properties. Styrene-divinylbenzene cation exchangers and acrylonitrile-DVB copolymers were found to be the best starting materials for polymeric molecular sieves. The porous structure and sorption properties of prepared materials were characterized. The sorption capacities of carbonized ion exchangers are comparable with those of activated carbon prepared from wood. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.