Cellular activated carbon, a new type of activated carbon we prepared, is based on carbon foams, the inner surfaces of which are activated physically by CO2 to generate an available surface made up of micro/mesopores. The carbon foams are enriched with macropores that are connected to the cell walls. After activation, the cellular activated carbon produces a great deal of micro and mesopores at the surface of the macropores; therefore, this new bimodal cellular activated carbon can be used just like the classic activated carbon as an adsorbent, catalyst support, energy storage and biological material in various industries.
But the most difference is the ACs are normally in the form of grains or are granular with surface areas mainly being controlled by their inner microporosity (pore size less than 2 nm) and mesoporosity (pore size ranging from 2 to 50 nm). The mesoporosity also plays a role in the pathways for reactants flowing through the carbon grains. When we using this carbon foam as a precursor provides pathways for the macropores, so the resulting features for the new cellular activated carbon are the monolithic shape and high adsorption kinetics due to the size of the bigger pores.
This research was supported in part by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31300488) and the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (xjq201420).
Addition co-authors of the Nano paper are Lu LUO from Fujian Argricuture and Forestry University and Mizi Fan Brunel University.
Corresponding author for this study is Weigang ZHAO, [email protected]. The paper can be found in NANO.
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