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Facile preparation of activated carbon with optimal pore range for high butane working capacity

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Abstract

In this work, the correlation between the pore characteristics of activated carbon (AC) and the adsorption/desorption characteristics of evaporated fuel was studied. AC was prepared by various physical re-activation methods using coconut-derived commercial AC. Pore characteristics of the re-activated AC were investigated using N2/77 K adsorption isotherms. The structural characteristics of the AC were observed by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The butane working capacity was observed according to ASTM D5228. From the results, the specific surface area and total pore volume of the ACs were determined to be 1380–2040 m2/g and 0.60–0.96 cm3/g, respectively. It was also observed that various pore size distributions were found to be dependent on the functions of the activation method and time. A close relationship between butane activity/retentivity and micropore/mesopore volumes was found. In addition, it was inferred that the volume fraction of micropores and sub-mesopores with diameters between 1.5 and 3.0 nm primarily controls butane activity.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the “A Study on the Design of Protective Woven Fabrics Using ACF Materials” funded by the Agency for Defense Development, Republic of Korea (UD170102ID). This research was supported by Nano Material Technology Development Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by Ministry of Science and ICT (Project no. 2019M3A7B9071501).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Carbon Convergence Materials, Korea Institute of Carbon Convergence Technology, Jeonju, 54853, Republic of Korea

    Hye-Min Lee, Byeong-Hoon Lee & Byung-Joo Kim

  2. Department of Chemistry, Inha University, Incheon, 22212, Republic of Korea

    Hye-Min Lee & Soo-Jin Park

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, 54896, Republic of Korea

    Byeong-Hoon Lee

  4. Department of Carbon and Nano Materials Engineering, Jeonju University, Jeonju, 55069, Republic of Korea

    Kay-Hyeok An

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Lee, HM., Lee, BH., An, KH. et al. Facile preparation of activated carbon with optimal pore range for high butane working capacity. Carbon Lett. 30, 297–305 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-019-00098-w

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