Comparative studies of porous carbon nanofibers by various activation methods

In this study, activated carbons nanofibers (ACNFs) were prepared from polyacrylonitrilebased nanofibers by physical (H 2 O and CO 2 ) and chemical (KOH) activation.The surface and structural characteristics of the porous carbon were observed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively.Pore characteristics were investigated by N 2 /77K adsorption isotherms.The specific surface area of the physically ACNFs was increased up to 2400 m 2 /g and the ACNFs were found to be mainly composed of micropore structures.Chemical activation using KOH produced ACNFs with high specific surface area (up to 2500 m 2 /g), and the micropores were mainly found in the ACNFs.The physically and chemically ACNFs showed both mainly type I from the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry classification.