Preparation and characterization of porous carbons from PAN-based preoxidized cloth by KOH activation

Porous carbons (PCs) were prepared from PAN-based preoxidized cloth with potassium hydroxide (KOH) as active reagent by the chemical activation method. The PCs have been systematically studied by the adsorptions of nitrogen, benzene and iodine. It has been found that the process parameters such as weight ratio of KOH to the starting material, activation temperature and activation time are crucial for preparing high quality PCs. A series of PCs with high BET surface area and well-developed porous structure in which micropores are dominant were obtained with less KOH and shorter activation time in comparison to the traditional methods. The optimum conditions for preparing PCs with high BET surface area from PAN-based preoxidized cloth were given, and the relationships between pore structure and adsorption property of PCs were explored. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.