A series of sisal based activated carbon fibers were prepared with steam activation at temperature from 750℃ to 900℃. Their pore structures were characterized through their nitrogen adsorption isotherms at 77K using different theories. The results showed that t-plot method and DR-plot method could suitably be used to characterize the mesopore structure and the multi-stage distribution of pore size of activated carbon fibers. It also showed that the pore size widens with the increase of activation temperature.
The adsorption of xenon from air has an interest in the monitoring of nuclear explosion or accident, or in the treatment of nuclear waste gas. In this paper, the pore structure of several series of activated carbon fibers has been characterized. The adsorption properties of xenon on these activated carbon fibers under different temperatures have been studied in details. The results show that the xenon adsorption amount on activated carbon fibers do not increase with specific surface area of adsorbents, but are closely related to their pore size distribution. Pores whose radius equal to or narrow than 0.4nm would be more advantageous to the adsorption of xenon.
Structures of a series of activated carbon fibers were modified by impregnating them with organic and inorganic materials such as Methylene blue(Mb)、p-nitrophenol (PNP)、NaCl or by oxidizing with KMnO4 or HNO3. The influence of pore filling or chemical treatment on their xenon adsorption properties was studied. The experimental results show that Mb and PNP filling of activated carbon fibers result in the decrease of xenon adsorption capacities of these treated ACFs, which is due to the decrease of their surface area and micro-pore volume. However, the adsorption capacity increases greatly with oxidizing treatment of activated carbon fibers by 7mol/L HNO3.
