• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.252-256
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• 2007

A series of spherical porous carbons were prepared via resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) sol-gel polymerization in the presence of cationic surfactant (CTAB, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide), wherein the carbon sphere size was controlled by varying the CTAB introduction time after a pre-determined period of addition reaction (termed as "pre-curing"). The sphere size gradually decreases with an increase in the pre-curing time within the range of 30-150 nm. The carbons possess two types of pores; one inside carbon spheres (intra-particle pores) and the other at the interstitial sites made by carbon spheres (inter-particle pores). Of the two, the surface exposed on the former was dominant to determine the electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) performance of porous carbons. As the intra-particle pores were generated inside RF gel spheres by gasification, the pore diameter was similar for all these carbons, thereby the pore length turned out to be a decisive factor controlling the EDLC performance. The charge-discharge voltage profiles and complex capacitance analysis consistently illustrate that the smaller-sized RF carbons deliver a better rate capability, which must be the direct result of facilitated ion penetration into shorter pores.

• Carbon letters
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.8-16
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• 2008

Oxidized activated carbons were prepared by reacting steam-activated carbon developed from pecan shells with nitric acid of varying strength (15, 30, 45 and 60%). The textural properties and the chemistry of the surface of the non-oxidized and of the oxidized carbons were determined from nitrogen adsorption and base neutralization capacities. The uptake of Pb(II) and Cd(II) from aqueous solution by these carbons was determined by kinetic and equilibrium experiments as well as by the column method. Treatment with nitric acid brought about drastic decrease in surface area and remarkable increase in the pore size of the carbon with these changes depending on the strength of nitric acid. Nitric acid increased the surface acidity by developing new surface oxygen functional groups of acidic nature. $HNO_3$-oxidized carbons exhibited high adsorption capacities for Pb(II) and Cd(II). The adsorption of these ions increased with the decrease of the surface pH of the carbon and with the increase of the solution pH from 2.5 to 6 and 7. The amount adsorbed from lead and cadmium was also related to the amount of surface acidity, the pH of the point of zero charge and on some metal ion parameters. Cadmium and lead uptake by the investigated carbons followed pseudo-second order model and the equilibrium sorption data fitted Langmuir adsorption model.

• Carbon letters
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.53-64
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• 2016

Nitrogen (N)-doped ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) with a dual transition metal system were synthesized as non-Pt catalysts for the ORR. The highly nitrogen doped OMCs were prepared by the precursor of ionic liquid (3-methyl-1-butylpyridine dicyanamide) for N/C species and a mesoporous silica template for the physical structure. Mostly, N-doped carbons are promoted by a single transition metal to improve catalytic activity for ORR in PEMFCs. In this study, our N-doped mesoporous carbons were promoted by the dual transition metals of iron and cobalt (Fe, Co), which were incorporated into the N-doped carbons lattice by subsequently heat treatments. All the prepared carbons were characterized by via transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). To evaluate the activities of synthesized doped carbons, linear sweep was recorded in an acidic solution to compare the ORR catalytic activities values for the use in the PEMFC system. The dual transition metal promotion improved the ORR activity compared with the single transition metal promotion, due to the increase in the quaternary nitrogen species from the structural change by the dual metals. The effect of different ratio of the dual metals into the N doped carbon were examined to evaluate the activities of the oxygen reduction reaction.

• Carbon letters
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.86-92
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• 2003

A series of micro- and mesoporous activated carbons were prepared from two kinds of 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 973 $m^2/g$. Activated carbons with porous structure were produced by controlling the amount of metal chlorides ($CuCl_2$). Pore evolvement depends on the amount of additional metal chloride and precursors used. From the SEM and EDX data, copper contents were shown to be most effected by the incremental addition of metal chloride.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.2357-2360
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• 2014

Phosphorus-doped soft carbons were successfully prepared by carbonizing petroleum cokes treated with phosphorus acids, such as $H_3PO_2$, $H_3PO_3$, and $H_3PO_4$. The effect of the type of phosphorus acids used on the composition, structure, and electrochemical performance of the soft carbons was extensively investigated. The soft carbons modified with $H_3PO_3$ and $H_3PO_4$ exhibited dramatically improved reversible capacities and outstanding rate capabilities.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.328-334
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• 2009

Recently, much interest on mesoporous carbon has been shown in their use for both hydrogen and methane storage and as an electrode material for electric double layer capacitors. The mesoporous active carbons by ion exchange were prepared and physical properties such as specific surface area and pore structure of active carbon were investigated using BET. In this study, active carbons with mesopore fraction of $60{\sim}90%$ were obtained. The Fe/Ca-exchanged active carbons showed a greater mesoporosity compared with Fe-exchanged carbons. The mean mesopore size in active carbons using Ca- and Fe-exchange was about $5.5{\sim}6.0nm$ and was approximately 1nm higher than that of the Fe-exchanged active carbon.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.309-314
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• 2012

Carbons derived by the pyrolysis of Sorona activated by $ZnCl_2$ in the ratio of 1:20 and non-porogen Sorona carbons are used as the electrode materials in asymmetric electrochemical supercapacitors and electrochemical behavior is investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals the porogen free carbons show a flake-like structure and the $ZnCl_2$-treated Sorona carbons have a loose, disjoint structure without any particular shape. Cyclic voltammetric (CV) studies show specific prolate rectangular shape and gives good capacitive properties.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.230-230
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• 2009

In this work, Porous Carbons (PCs) were prepared by using a chemical acid treatment, and the hydrogen storage behaviors of PCs doped by Pt nanoparticles were investigated. The hydrogen storage capacities of the Pt-doped carbons with a platinum content of 0.2 - 1.5 wt.% were evaluated by a volumetric adsorption method at 298K and 10 MPa. The microstructures of samples were examined by XRD and SEM. It was found that the hydrogen storage capacitiesof the PCs dramatically increased, but the amount of hydrogen stored from the samples began to decrease after 0.6 wt.% of Pt content due to the pore blocking. These results indicate that a suitable amount of supported catalysts and layer intervals of carbons had a very important impact on hydrogen storage behaviors.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.782-784
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• 2008

Ag/Ni bimetallic cluster loading on porous carbon fibers was accomplished in order to enhance the HCl removal efficiency of the carbons. The surface properties of the Ag/Ni/carbons were determined by XRD and SEM. N2/77 K adsorption isotherms were investigated using BET and Boers t-plot methods. The HCl removal efficiency was confirmed by a gas chromatography technique, and it was found that that efficiency was predominantly improved in the presence of Ag/Ni clusters compared with the efficiencies of the as-received and single-metal-plated carbons. This indicates that synergetic reactions exist between Ag/Ni and HCl gas, resulting in advanced HCl removal capacity of porous carbons.

• Carbon letters
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.170-179
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• 2004

The equilibrium and dynamic adsorption of methylene blue from aqueous solutions by activated carbons have been studied. The equilibrium studies have been carried out on two samples of activated carbon fibres and two samples of granulated activated carbons. These activated carbons have different BET surface areas and are associated with varying amounts of carbon oxygen surface groups. The amounts of these surface groups was enhanced by oxidation with $HNO_3$ and $O_2$ gas at $350^{\circ}C$ and decreased by degassing at increasing temperatures of $400^{\circ}$, $650^{\circ}$ and $950^{\circ}C$. The adsorption increases on oxidation of the carbon surface and decreases on degassing. The increase in adsorption has been attributed to the formation of acidic carbon-oxygen surface groups and the decrease in adsorption on degassing to their elimination. The dynamic adsorption studies have been carried out on the two granulated activated carbons using two 50 mm diameter glass columns at a feed concentration of 300 mg/L and at different hydraulic loading rates (HLR) and bed heights. The minimum achievable concentrations are comparatively lower while the adsorption capacities are higher for GAC-S under the same operating conditions. The adsorption capacity of a carbon increases with increase in HLR but the rate of increase decreases at higher HLR values.