Preparation and Characterization of a Novel Activated Carbon Fiber Based on Kapok

摘要

A new kind of activated carbon fibers (ACFs) based on kapok, an abundant and inexpensive natural resource in South China and Southeast Asia, was prepared by activation with diammonium hydrogen phosphate [(NH <,4>)<,2>HPO<,4>] at 923K for 70 min. Three preoxidation methods (without preoxiadtion, before and after impregnation) were adopted to produce AK-1, AK-3 and AK-2 respectively. The characteristics of the ACFs were determined with SEM, FTIR and Boehm titration. It was found that preoxidation treatment lead to higher specific surface area and higher concentrations of surface acid functionalities, which affected on the organic adsorption. The ACFs were employed in wastewater treatment containing a common pollutant, phenol. The results showed that AK-2 had the biggest adsorption capacity for phenol uptake (up to 137.98 mg/g).