• Carbon letters
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• 제13권4호
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• pp.254-259
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• 2012

Nanoporous non-woven carbon fibers for a gas sensor were prepared from a pitch/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) mixed solution through an electrospinning process and their gas-sensing properties were investigated. In order to create nanoscale pores, magnesium oxide (MgO) powders were added as a pore-forming agent during the mixing of these carbon precursors. The prepared nanoporous carbon fibers derived from the MgO pore-forming agent were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), $N_2$-adsorption isotherms, and a gas-sensing analysis. The SEM images showed that the MgO powders affected the viscosity of the pitch/PAN solution, which led to the production of beaded fibers. The specific surface area of carbon fibers increased from 2.0 to $763.2m^2/g$ when using this method. The template method therefore improved the porous structure, which allows for more efficient gas adsorption. The sensing ability and the response time for the NO gas adsorption were improved by the increased surface area and micropore fraction. In conclusion, the carbon fibers with high micropore fractions created through the use of MgO as a pore-forming agent exhibited improved NO gas sensitivity.

• Carbon letters
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• 제10권3호
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• pp.217-220
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• 2009

In this study, porous electrospun carbon fibers were prepared by electrospinning with PAN and $MgCl_2$, as a MgO precursor. MgO was selected as a substrate because of its chemical and thermal stability, no reaction with carbon, and ease of removal after carbonization by dissolving out in acidic solutions. $MgCl_2$ was mixed with polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solution as a precursor of MgO with various weight ratios of $MgCl_2$/PAN. The average diameter of porous electrospun carbon fibers increased from 1.3 to 3 ${\mu}m$, as the $MgCl_2$ to PAN weight ratio increased. During the stabilization step, $MgCl_2$ was hydrolyzed to MgOHCl by heat treatment. At elevated temperature of 823 K for carbonization step, MgOHCl was decomposed to MgO. Specific surface area and pore structure of prepared electrospun carbon fibers were decided by weight ratio of $MgCl_2$/PAN. The amount of hydrogen storage increased with increase of specific surface area and micropore volume of prepared electrospun carbon fibers.

• Carbon letters
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.1-14
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• 2014

Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) with diameters in the submicron and nanometer range exhibit high specific surface area, hierarchically porous structure, flexibility, and super strength which allow them to be used in the electrode materials of energy storage devices, and as hybrid-type filler in carbon fiber reinforced plastics and bone tissue scaffold. Unlike catalytic synthesis and other methods, electrospinning of various polymeric precursors followed by stabilization and carbonization has become a straightforward and convenient way to fabricate continuous CNFs. This paper is a comprehensive and brief review on the latest advances made in the development of electrospun CNFs with major focus on the promising applications accomplished by appropriately regulating the microstructural, mechanical, and electrical properties of as-spun CNFs. Additionally, the article describes the various strategies to make a variety of carbon CNFs for energy conversion and storage, catalysis, sensor, adsorption/separation, and biomedical applications. It is envisioned that electrospun CNFs will be the key materials of green science and technology through close collaborations with carbon fibers and carbon nanotubes.

• 한국세라믹학회지
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• 제42권7호
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• pp.469-474
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• 2005

Activated Carbon Fibers (ACFs) are widely used as adsorbents in technologies related to pollution abatement due to their highly porous structure and large adsorption capacity. The porous structure and surface area of ACFs depends strongly on both the activation processes arid the nature .of the precursors. The chemical activation with hydroxides has recently been, of great interest as it permits the preparation of activated carbon fibers with highly developed porosity. In this work, OXI-PAN fiber used as precursor for the preparation of activated carbon fibers by chemical activation with KOH and NaOH. The affects of several activation conditions on the surface properties, pore size distribution and adsorption capacity of Ag ion and Iodine ion on ACFs studied.

• Carbon letters
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• 제28권
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• pp.47-54
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• 2018

High surface carbon aerogels with hierarchical and tunable pore structure were prepared using ionic liquid as carbon precursor via a simple salt templating method. The as-prepared carbon aerogels were characterized by nitrogen sorption measurement and scanning electron microscopy. Through instant visual observation experiments, it was found that salt eutectics not only serve as solvents, porogens, and templates, but also play an important role of foaming agents in the preparation of carbon aerogels. When the pyrolyzing temperature rises from 800 to $1000^{\circ}C$, the higher temperature deepens the carbonization reaction further to form a nanoporous interconnected fractal structure and increase the contribution of super-micropores and small mesopores and improve the specific surface area and pore volume, while having few effects on the macropores. As the mass ratio of ionic liquid to salt eutectics drops from 55% to 15%, that is, the content of salt eutectics increases, the salt eutectics gradually aggregate from ion pairs, to clusters with minimal free energy, and finally to a continuous salt phase, leading to the formation of micropores, uniform mesopores, and macropores, respectively; these processes cause BET specific surface area initially to increase but subsequently to decrease. With the mass ratio of ionic liquids to salts at 35% and carbonization temperature at $900^{\circ}C$, the specific surface area of the resultant carbon aerogels reached $2309m^2g^{-1}$. By controlling the carbonization temperature and mass ratio of the raw materials, the hierarchically porous architecture of carbon aerogels can be tuned; this advantage will promote their use in the fields of electrodes and adsorption.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제29권4호
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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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• 제13권3호
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• pp.161-166
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• 2012

Carbon materials were synthesized by pyrolysis from fibers of Corn-straw (Zea mays), Rice-straw (Oryza sativa), Jute-straw (Corchorus capsularis) Bamboo (Bombax bambusa), Bagass (Saccharum officinarum), Cotton (Bombax malabaricum), and Coconut (Cocos nucifera); these materials were characterized by scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectra. All carbon materials are micro sized with large pores or channel like morphology. The unique complex spongy, porous and channel like structure of Carbon shows a lot of similarity with the original anatomy of the plant fibers used as precursor. Waxy contents like tyloses and pits present on fiber tracheids that were seen in the inherent anatomy disappear after pyrolysis and only the carbon skeleton remained; XRD analysis shows that carbon shows the development of a (002) plane, with the exception of carbon obtained from bamboo, which shows a very crystalline character. Raman studies of all carbon materials showed the presence of G- and D-bands of almost equal intensities, suggesting the presence of graphitic carbon as well as a disordered graphitic structure. Carbon materials possessing lesser density, larger surface area, more graphitic with less of an $sp^3$ carbon contribution, and having pore sizes around $10{\mu}m$ favor hydrogen adsorption. Carbon materials synthesized from bagass meet these requirements most effectively, followed by cotton fiber, which was more effective than the carbon synthesized from the other plant fibers.

• Carbon letters
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.44-47
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• 2011

Activated carbon fibers (ACFs) were prepared from cost effective commercial textiles through stabilization, carbonization, and subsequently activation by carbon dioxide. ACFs were characterized for surface area and pore size distribution by physical adsorption of nitrogen at 77 K. ACFs were also examined for various surface characteristics by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and CHNO elemental analyzer. The prepared ACFs exhibited good surface textural properties with well developed micro porous structure. With improvement in physical strength, the commercial textile grade acrylic precursor based ACFs developed in this study may have great utility as cost effective adsorbents in environmental remediation applications.

• 한국콘크리트학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국콘크리트학회 2002년도 봄 학술발표회 논문집
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• pp.655-660
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• 2002

The purpose of this study is to analyze void ratio, coefficient of water permeability, and strength characteristics when silica fume and carbon fibers were added in order to improve the strength of porous concrete, and when recycled aggregates were used. Comparing with the case that recycled aggregate was not used, as the replacement ratio of recycled aggregate increased, the differences in void ratios and strength characteristics were decreased. In the case that silica fume was used, the content of 10% silica fume was most effective in improving strength. In the case that carbon fibers were used, the content of 3% carbon fiber were good to achieve the highest flexural strength, and Pan-derived CF was much better than pitch-derived CF in improving these effects.

• Carbon letters
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• 제9권3호
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• pp.188-194
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• 2008

Porous carbon materials synthesized from various plant derived precursors i.e. seeds of [Castor (Ricinus communis), Soap nut (Sapindus sp.), Cashew-nut (Semecarpus anacardium), Jack fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius), Ambadi (Crotolaria juncea), Neem (Azadirachta indica), Bitter Almond (Prunus amygdalus), Sesamum (Sisamum indicum), Date-palm (Phoenix dactylifera),Canola (Brassica napus), Sunflower (Helianthus annulus)] and fibrous materials from [Corn stem- (Zea mays), Rice straw (Oryza sativa), Bamboo (Bombax bambusa) and Coconut fibers (Cocos nucifera)] were screened to make supercapacitor in 5M KOH solution. Carbon material obtained from Jack fruit seeds (92.0 F/g), Rice straw (83.0 F/g), Soap nut seeds (54.0 F/g), Castor seeds (44.34 F/g) and Bamboo (40.0 F/g) gave high capacitance value as compared to others. The magnitude of capacitance value was found to be inversely proportional to the scan rate of measurement. It is suggested that carbon material should possess large surface area and small pore size to get better value of capacitor. Moreover, the structure of carbon materials should be such that majority of pores are in the plane parallel to the plane of electrode and surface is fluffy like cotton ball.