Study on the effect of high temperature heat treatment of H2 on the pore structure of activated carbon

Abstract As a high-quality adsorbent, activated carbon is widely used in air purification, natural gas storage, sewage treatment, gas enrichment, and separation, etc. The pore microstructure of activated carbon directly affects the adsorption capacity. In this paper, the altered in the microstructure of activated charcoal before and after high-temperature treatment were investigated by high-temperature thermal treatment of activated charcoal at 600°C and 700°C under an H 2 atmosphere. The results of low-temperature (77 K) nitrogen adsorption showed that after high-temperature H 2 heat treatment, the pores of activated carbon would be ablated and the pore structure would be significantly changed. The specific surface area, micropore specific surface area, total pore volume, and micropore pore volume all increased, and the degree of enhancement was proportional to the temperature of the heat treatment. The pore size distribution of activated charcoal before and after heat treatment was analyzed by density functional theory, and it was concluded that the pore volume of activated carbon mesopores (2-4 nm) increased significantly after high-temperature heat treatment, which could effectively improve the adsorption and separation capacity of activated carbon in larger molecular systems.