IMPROVEMENT OF CAPACITY BY INCORPORATING CARBON BLACK IN ELECTROSPUN ACTIVATED CARBON FIBER WEBS FOR DESALINATION

摘要

The application of capacitive deionization technology (CDI) for desalination has drawn considerable attention in the past few years since it is an attractive, energy-efficient alternative to membrane desalination and thermal processes[l]. Porous carbons with various forms and textures are favored electrosorptive electrodes due to their good conductivity, high surface area, and suitable pore size distribution. However, the conventional electrodes consisting of microporous carbon particles or powders are not effective enough because some micropores are not accessible for ions. For the better electrosorption characteristics, it is indispensable for porous carbons to have well-defined and balanced larger pores (mesopores and macropores) in addition to micropores[2,3]. Here, we report the fabrication of activated carbon fiber (ACF) webs containing carbon black (CB) by electrospinning CBs dispersed in a solution of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), followed by oxidative stabilization, carbonization and activation with carbon dioxide. Scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption and four-probe method were used to characterize the structures and properties of the as-made webs. The CBs embedded in the electrospun ACF webs help improve the conductivity and mesopore distributions of ACFs, resulting in a significantly enhanced electrosorption capacity in capacitive deionization (CDI) for desalination. It is believed that the as-made ACF/CB web electrodes are highly promising in CDI desalination applications.