Activated Carbon Aerogels

• Published in: Langmuir Vol. 12; no. 26; pp. 6167 - 6169
• Main Authors: Hanzawa, Y, Kaneko, K, Pekala, R. W, Dresselhaus, M. S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 25-12-1996
• Subjects: Chemistry; Colloidal gels. Colloidal sols; Colloidal state and disperse state; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Aerogel; Sol gel process; Activated carbon; Preparation; Carbon dioxide; Adsorption isotherm; Nitrogen; Experimental study
• ISSN: 0743-7463; 1520-5827
• DOI: 10.1021/la960481t

Activated carbon aerogels were obtained from the CO2 activation of carbon aerogels. The adsorption isotherms of nitrogen on activated carbon aerogels at 77 K were measured and analyzed by the high-resolution αS plot to evaluate their porosities. The αS plot showed an upward deviation from linearity below αS = 0.5, suggesting that the presence of micropores becomes more predominant with the extent of the activation. Activation increased noticeably the pore volume and the surface area (the maximum value:  2600 m2·g-1) without change of the basic network structure of primary particles. Activated carbon aerogels had a bimodal pore size distribution of uniform micropores and mesopores.