• Carbon letters
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.152-161
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• 2011

Activated carbon was prepared from pre-carbonized petroleum coke. Textural properties were determined from studies of the adsorption of nitrogen at 77 K and the surface chemistry was obtained using the Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer technique and the Boehm titration process. The adsorption of three aromatic compounds, namely phenol (P), p-nitrophenol (PNP) and benzoic acid (BA) onto APC in aqueous solution was studied in a batch system with respect to contact time, pH, initial concentration of solutes and temperature. Active carbon APC obtained was found to possess a high surface area and a predominantly microporous structure; it also had an acidic surface character. The experimental data fitted the pseudo-second-order kinetic model well; also, the intraparticle diffusion was the only controlling process in determining the adsorption of the three pollutants investigated. The adsorption data fit well with the Langmuir and Freundlich models. The uptake of the three pollutants was found to be strongly dependent on the pH value and the temperature of the solution. Most of the experiments were conducted at pH 7; the $pH_{(PZC)}$ of the active carbon under study was 5.0; the surface of the active carbon was negatively charged. The thermodynamic parameters evaluated for APC revealed that the adsorption of P was spontaneous and exothermic in nature, while PNP and BA showed no-spontaneity of the adsorption process and that process was endothermic in nature.

• Carbon letters
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.293-299
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• 2009

Potassium hydroxide activated carbons were prepared from Egyptian petroleum cokes with different KOH/coke ratios and at different activation temperatures and times. The textural properties were determined by adsorption of nitrogen at $-196^{\circ}C$. The adsorption of iodine and methylene blue was also investigated at $30^{\circ}C$. The surface area and the non-micropore volume increased whereas the micropore volume decreased with the increase of the ratio KOH/coke. Also the surface area and porosity increased with the rise of activation temperature from 500 to $800^{\circ}C$. Textural parameter considerably increased with the increase of activation time from 1 to 3 h. Further increasing of activation time from 3 to 4 h was associated with a less pronounced increase in textural parameters. The adsorption of iodine shows the same trend of surface area and porosity change exhibited by nitrogen adsorption, with KOH/coke ratio and temperature of activation. Adsorption of methylene blue follows pseudo-first-order kinetics and its equilibrium adsorption follows Langmuir and D-R models.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.11-17
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• 2010

Modifying surface of activated carbon for the electrode of EDLC with an organic electrolyte was investigated to improve the electrochemical performance of EDLC by the microwave radiation. Three kinds of activated carbons, prepared activated carbon from petroleum cokes and pitch cokes and commercial activated carbon BP-25, were used for this study. For all investigated activated carbons, hydrophilic functional groups-containing oxygen disappeared from the surface of activated carbon as microwave radiation. And as microwave radiation time was increased, the specific surface area and total pore volume of activated carbons were reduced and average pore diameter were increased. From theses effects, interfacial resistance of EDLC with the modified activated carbon electrode was drastically decreased, and discharge capacitance was increased although the specific surface area of activated carbon was reduced by this microwave radiation.

• Carbon letters
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.86-88
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• 2005

Mesoporous activated carbon (AC) was prepared from aged petroleum coke through chemical activation. The AC has a specific surface area of 1733 $m^2/g$ and a mean pore diameter of 2.37 nm. The volume fraction of 2 to 4nm pores is 56.74%. At a current density of 10 mA/$cm^2$, a specific capacitance of 240 F/g is achieved representing the use factor of the surface area of 69.2%. And the electrical double layer capacitor (EDLC) based on the AC shows an excellent power performance. This result suggests that the presence of high fraction of mesopores can effectively increase the adsorption efficiency of the specific surface area of the AC and enhance the power performance of EDLC based on the efficient surface area of the AC.