Preparation of an Activated Carbon with High Specific Surface Area from Polyurethane Foam by Chemical Activation with K2CO3

摘要

Polyurethane foam is widely used in many applications. Thus significant amounts of polyurethane foam must be recycled or re-used and the corresponding methods developed. We prepared an activated carbon with high specific surface area from polyurethane foam by chemical activation with K2CO3. The polyurethane foam was impregnated with K2CO3 and the impregnated sample was heated up to the carbonization temperature at the heating rate of 10 K/min and maintained for 1h at the temperature. The carbonization temperature was varied between 773-1073 K. The char was washed using hot water and then the activated carbon was prepared. The N2 adsorption isotherm for the prepared activated carbon was measured at 77 K, the specific surface area was calculated by the BET method, the micropore volume distribution was calculated by the Horvath-Kawazoe method and the mesopore volume distribution was calculated by the Dollimore-Heal method. The specific surface area of the activated carbons, prepared at the carbonization temperature of 1073 K and the impregnation ratio of 1.0, was about 2800m2/g. At a carbonization temperature of 1073 K, the specific surface area of the activated carbon, prepared at the impregnation ratio of 0.2, is above 2000 m2/g.