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Surface structural characterization of highly porous activated carbon prepared from corn grain
Author(s) -
Balathanigaimani M. S.,
Shim WangGeun,
Kim Chan,
Lee JaeWook,
Moon Hee
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.3051
Subject(s) - carbonization , char , activated carbon , porosity , chemical engineering , materials science , surface roughness , adsorption , grain size , specific surface area , carbon fibers , composite material , chemistry , scanning electron microscope , organic chemistry , pyrolysis , catalysis , composite number , engineering
Abstract A novel corn grain precursor was used for the preparation of activated carbon by chemical activation. The detailed investigation of the porosity development in the prepared activated carbon was done by altering the various activation conditions such as the activation temperature, activation time and ratio between the powdered form of carbonized corn grain char and KOH. The surface characteristics including the surface roughness of all the activated carbon samples were evaluated from the analysis of nitrogen (N 2 ) adsorption isotherm data. At the maximum of 2978 m 2 /g, a super surface area having the corn grain‐based activated carbon (CG‐AC) was synthesized by using the following conditions: 1/4 ratio of powdered form of carbonized corn grain char/KOH; 800 °C; and 4 h. The possibility of preparing highly porous activated carbons with controlled porosity by varying different activation conditions was found from the pore size distribution results. In particular, the domination of the ratio between the powdered form of carbonized corn grain char and KOH on the porosity development was high compared to the activation temperature and activation time. In addition, the surface roughness calculated from the surface fractal dimension indicates the decrease of surface roughness with increasing activation conditions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.