In this study, we prepared ACFs with a high specific surface area from various precursors (rayon, pitch, and oxidized polyacrylonitrile-based fibers) by a steam-activation technique and investigated the effects of the micropore and mesopore fraction on 2-CEES adsorption behaviors. The activation time was precisely controlled so that the activation yield was in the range of 35–40% to ensure the mechanical properties of the ACFs. The N2 adsorption isotherm characteristics at 77K were confirmed by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, Barrett–Joyner–Halenda and non-local density functional theory equations. The adsorption capacities of the ACF were measured by breakthrough experiments in the gas phase (750 μg/mL of 2-CEES in N2 flow). The removal efficiency of the ACFs was evaluated and compared with that of AC. From the results, specific surface areas and total pore volume of the ACF were determined to be 1380–1670 m2/g and 0.61–0.82 cm3/g, respectively. It was also observed that various pore characteristics of ACF were found to be dependent on crystallite structure of each precursor. The break through time (C/C0 = 0.10) was in the order of Oxi-Pan-H-9-2 < Saratoga AC < Rayon-H-9-3 < Pitch-H-9-4. This indicates that 2-CEES adsorption capacity could be a function not only of specific surface area or total pore volume, but also of sub-mesopore volume fraction in the range of 1.5–2.5 nm of adsorbents.

본 연구에서는 시판되는 탄소전극의 제조에 활용되는 활성탄의 형태가 아닌, 활성탄소섬유를 이용하여 축전식 탈염공정에 적용할 탄소전극을 제조하였다. polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)를 지지체로 사용하며 활성탄소섬유를 배합한 후 시판되는 그라파이트 시트에 캐스팅하여 탄소전극을 제조한 다음 염 제거 효율을 평가하였다. 활성탄소섬유의 입자 크기를 달리하였고 용매와 고분자 지지체 그리고 활성탄소섬유를 80 : 2 : 18, 80 : 5 : 15의 배합비율로 전극을 제조하였다. 축전식 탈염공정 운전조건으로 흡착전압, 시간, 탈착전압, 시간, NaCl 공급액의 농도와 유속 등을 달리하여 제조한 활성탄소섬유전극의 성능을 평가하였다.

The South Korean Ministry of the Environment has revised the laws relating to the management of interior air quality for multiple use facilities, and recommends maintaining carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in passenger vehicles below 1000 ppm during operation in urban areas of large cities. However, the interior CO2 concentration of passenger vehicles can rapidly increase and exceed 5000 ppm within 30 min, as observed when two passengers are traveling in urban areas of the South Korean city of Jeonju with the air conditioner blower turned off and the actuator mode set to internal circulation mode. With four passengers, CO2 concentration can reach up to 6000 ppm within 10 min. To counter this, when the actuator is set to external mode, CO2 concentration can be maintained below 1000 ppm, even after a long period of running time. As part of the air conditioning system, alkali-treated activated carbon fiber filters are considered to be far superior to the commercial non-woven filters or combination filters currently commonly in use.

본 연구에서는 열분해잔사유(Pyrolysis Fuel Oil, PFO)를 이용한 Pitch계 활성탄소섬유를 제조하였다. 제조한 Pitch안정화 섬유의 탄화 및 활성화 온도를 850, 880, 900 ℃로 달리하여 각각 다른 샘플의 기공형성에 대한 영향을 알아보기 위해 BET 와 SEM을 이용하여 비교 분석하였다. 세 가지 샘플 ACF850, ACF880, ACF900를 분석한 결과 ACF880의 비표면적과 미세 기공표면적이 각각 1,420 m2·g-1, 1,270 m2·g-1으로 가장 높았으며, 외부비표면적과 BJH흡착누적공극표면에서 가장 낮은 중기공표면적이 도출되었다. 또한 N2가스 등온흡착곡선을 분석한 결과, 미세기공의 분포가 균일한 것을 확인할 수 있었다. ACF880은 흡착률 및 흡착속도에서도 가장 높은 결과값을 보이며, 흡착속도는 미세기공표면적과 비례하며 중기공표면적과 반비례함을 알 수 있었다. 제조한 Pitch계 활성탄소섬유를 라돈 연속측정방법을 통해 48시간 동안 측정한 결과 샘플 모두 라돈 흡착성능을 보였다. 제 조한 샘플 중 ACF880이 34.0%로 가장 높은 흡착률을 보였으며, ACF850이 29.5%로 가장 낮은 흡착률을 나타내었다. 이는 비표면적이 높을수록 흡착률이 높아지는 것을 알 수 있었다. 이를 선형회귀선 기울기로 환산하여 흡착속도로 확인한 결과 ACF880이 -1.89로 가장 빠른 것을 확인하였으며, ACF900이 -1.48로 가장 낮은 흡착속도를 보여 미세기공표면적이 높을수 록, 중기공표면적이 낮을수록 흡착속도가 증가하는 것을 알 수 있었다.

Activated carbon fibers(ACFs) were prepared in this research from a polyacrylonitrile(PAN) precursor with the KOH(1~4 M) pretreatment and following activation at 800oC in a lab-scale. The sample ACFs were characterized according to their textural properties, and evaluated for CO2 adsorption capacity. The surface area and pore volume of ACFs increased according to the pretreatment with KOH; for example, 4M-KOH aqueous solution resulted in 1552.5 m2/g specific surface area and 0.605 cc/g pore volume. It also showed high CO2 adsorption amount(3.11 mmol/g) which showed a proportional increase with reaction pressure.

The adsorption of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was carried out using an activated carbon fiber (ACF) filter in an automobile. The adsorption capacities of formaldehyde, toluene, and benzene on an ACF filter were far better than those of a polypropylene (PP) mat filter and combined (PP+activated carbon) mat filter by batch adsorption in a gas bag. In a continuous flow of air containing toluene vapor through an ACF packed bed, the breakpoint time was very long, the length of the unused bed was short, and sharp "S" -type breakthrough curve was plotted soon after breakpoint, showing a narrow mass transfer zone of toluene on the ACF. The adsorption amount of toluene on the ACF filter was proportional to the specific surface area of the ACF; however, the development of mesopores 2-5 nm in size on the ACF was very effective with regard to the adsorption of toluene. The ACF air clarifier filter is strongly recommended to remove VOCs in newly produced automobiles.

황화수소 등 유황계 악취물질은 매우 낮은 최소감지농도를 갖고 있기 때문에 악취를 제거하기 위해서는 출구에서 악취가 검출되지 않는 적정 부하량에 대해 검토가 이루어져야 한다. 본 연구에서는 활성탄을 가공하여 제작한 습윤 상태의 활성탄소섬유를 이용하여 현장조건과 유사하게 황화합물악취 H2S 10 ppm, MT 3 ppm, DMS 1.5 ppm 3성분의 혼합가스에 대해 약 130일 동안 제거실험을 수행하였다. 그 결과, H2S는 유입부하량을 0.78 g-H2S / kg ACF·d 이하로 설정하여 운전하는 것이 필요하며, MT는 불완전산화 부산물인 DMDS가 출구에서 검출되어 악취를 유발하므로 안정적인 운전을 위해서는 유입부하량을 0.27 g-MT / kg ACF·d 이하로 설정하여 운전하는 것이 필요한 것으로 나타났다. DMS는 유입부하량의 변화에 관계없이 거의 제거되지 않는 것으로 나타났다.

탄소막은 고분자막에 비해 높은 선택성과 투과성, 열적, 화학적 안정성을 가지고 있어 기체 분리, 특히 휘발성 유기화합물(VOCs) 분리막으로 많은 관심을 받고 있다. 활성탄소중공사막은 기공 표면(pore wall)에 형성된 흡착성 미세기공에 의해 선택적으로 응축성 성분이 흡착, 확산되는 흡착-확산 기구에 의해 흡착성-비흡착성 물질이 분리된다. 본 연구에서는 다공성 알루미나 중공사막 지지체에 phenolic resin (novolac type)을 코팅한 후 산화, 탄화 및 활성화 등의 열분해 과정을 통해 막 표면과 기공 표변에 흡착성 미세기공이 형성된 활성탄소중공사막을 제조하였다. 또한 열분해 조건에 따른 phenol/alumina 복합 활성탄소중공사막의 물리적 특성과 기체 투과특성에 대해 살펴보았다. 그 결과, 제조된 phenol/alumina 복합 활성탄소중공사막이 휘발성 유기물질의 대부분을 차지하고 있는 탄화수소를 선택적으로 분리 회수하는데 매우 효과적인 특성을 갖고 있음을 확인할 수 있었다. 따라서 본 연구에서 개발된 phenol/alumina 복합 활성탄소중공 사막은 VOCs의 분리, 농축에 매우 효과적으로 활용 가능할 것으로 기대된다.

In this study, TiO2-Activated carbon (AC) complex fibers were prepared by electrospinning for the synergetic effect of adsorption and degradation of organic pollutant. The average diameter of these fibers increased with increasing the amount of AC added, except for 1AC-TOF (AC/TiO2 =1/40 mass ratio). After calcinations at 500℃, long as-spun fibers were broken and their average diameter was slightly decreased. The resultant fibers after calcination had rough surface and sphere shapes like a peanut. From XRD results, it was confirmed that as-spun fibers were changed to anatase TiO2 fiber after calcinations at 500℃. The prepared TiO2-AC complex fibers could remove procian blue dyes by solar light irradiation with high removal property of 94~99%. The PB dye was rapidly removed by adsorption during the initial 5 minutes. But after 5 minutes, dye removal was occurred by photodegradation. In this study, the most efficient AC/TiO2 ratio of TiO2-AC complex fibers was 5/40, showing the synergetic effect of adsorption and photodegradation. It is expected that the TiO2-AC complex fibers can be used to remove of organic pollutants in water system.

This study aims to find a correlation between XRD and Raman result of the activated carbon fibers as a function of its activation degrees. La of the isotropic carbon fiber prepared by oxidation in carbon dioxide gas have been observed using laser Raman spectroscopy. The basic structural parameters of the fibers were evaluated by XRD as well, and compared with Raman result. The La of the carbon fibers were measured to be 25.5 a from Raman analysis and 23.6 a from XRD analysis. La of the ACFs were 23.6 a and 20.4 a, respectively, representing less ordered through activation process. It seems that the ID/IG of Raman spectra were related to crystallite size(La). Raman spectroscopy has demonstrated its unique ability to detect structural changes during the activation of the fibers. There was good correlation between the La value obtained from Raman and XRD.

Activated carbon fiber could be prepared at 973 K by catalytic activation using potassium hydroxide. Phenol resin fiber (Kynol) was impregnated with potassium hydroxide ethanol solution, carbonized and activated at 973 K, resulting in activated carbon fibers with different porosities. The potassium hydroxide accelerated the activation of the fiber catalytically to form narrow micropore preferentially in carbon dioxide atmosphere. The narrow micropore volume of 0.3~0.4 cc/g, total pore volume of 0.3~0.8 cc/g, mean pore width of 0.5~0.7 nm was obtained in the range of 20~50% burnoff.

Bioaerosols are airborne particles of biological origins including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and all varieties of living materials. In suitable hosts, bioaerosols are capable of causing acute or chornic diseases that may be infectious, allergenic, or toxigenic. Bioaerosols from outdoor air accumulate on filters of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system in large quantities and are able to multiply there under certain conditions. In this study, silver was coated on activated carbon fiber (ACF) filters by an electroless plating method, and their efficacy for bioaerosols removal was tested. Physical filtration and biological antimicrobial test were performed. SEM and XRD analyses were used to characterize the morphology and components of ACF filters. Electroless silver-plated ACF filters showed antimicrobial efficiency, whereas pure ACF filters did not. It was found that electroless silver plating did not influence the physical filtration efficiency of ACF filters.

Isotropic pitch-based carbon fiber has been activated by steam diluted in nitrogen in order to characterize the microporosity. Especially, 40 wt% burn-off ACFs were prepared from different conditions to compare the pore structure and size. The ACFs were thinly sliced to investigate the inside pores by TEM and image analyzer. As expected, the adsorption characteristics of these ACFs were quite different from one another because of different pore structure and size. Most pores are not slit-shaped but rather round. Small round micropores become broad and irregular as increasing the activation time and temperature.

The electro-chemical removal (ECR) of water pollutants by metal-ACF electrodes from wastewater was investigated over wide range of ECR time. The ECR capacities of metallic ACF electrodes were related to physical properties such as adsorption isotherm, surface area and pore size and to reaction time. Surface morphologies and elemental analysis for the metal supported ACFs after electro-catalytic reaction were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy disperse X-ray (EDX) to explain the changes in adsorption properties. The IR spectra of metallic ACFs for the investigation of functional groups show that the electro-catalytic treatment is consequently associated with the removal of pollutants with the increasing surface reactivity of the activated carbon fibers. The metal-ACFs were electro-catalytically reacted to waste water to investigate the removal efficiency for the COD, T-N, NH4-N, NO3-N and NO2-N. From these removal results of the piggery waste using metallic ACFs substrate, satisfactory removal performance was achieved. The removal efficiency of the metallic ACFs substrate was mainly determined by the properties of the material for adsorption and trapping of organics, and catalytic effects.

The characteristics of adsorption and desorption of benzene and toluene were investigated at a fixed bed packed with the activated carbon and activated carbon fiber. Through breakthrough experiments under various feed concentration conditions, it was found that the slope of mass transfer zone and the tailing in the breakthrough curves were different from the feed conditions due to different heats of adsorption. In hot nitrogen desorption, the regeneration time and mass transfer zone of the toluene desorption curve were longer than those of the benzene desorption curve because of the difference in adsorption affinity. With an increase in the regeneration temperature, the height of roll-up and the sharpness of desorption curves increased but the regeneration times decreased. The adsorption capacities of the activated carbon and activated carbon fiber after three-time thermal regenerations decreased about 25% and 37% for benzene and 18% and 25% for toluene, respectively. To investigate the effect of the regeneration temperature on the energetic efficiency, the characteristic desorption temperatures of toluene and benzene were investigated by calculating purge gas consumption and temperature.

The present research was undertaken to evaluate the possibility of water purification filter with activated carbon fibers (ACFs) using a very low cost precursor consisting of phenolic resin coated on glass fibers. The simplified procedure involving coating, curing and activation and a very low cost glass fiber as a raw material were adopted in order to reduce manufacturing cost. The breakthrough curves of the manufactured ACFs and the commercial activated carbon (AC, Calgon F-200) were investigated in the initial concentration range from 19 to 49 ppm for benzene, toluene and ethylbenzene. From breakthrough profiles, the manufactured ACFs had significantly faster adsorption kinetics than the AC. Especially the benzene breakthrough curves, the manufactured ACF (13 g of ACF with 32% of carbon on the glass) was over the limited level (5 ppb) after flowing of 32 l at initial concentration of 15 ppm, while the commercial AC was shown about 3 ppm in initial adsorption.

Catalytic reduction and oxidation of NO over polyacrylonitrile based activated carbon fibers (PAN-ACF) under various conditions were carried out to develop removal process of NO from the flue gas. The effect of temperature, oxygen concentration and the moisture content for the reduction of NO with ammonia as a reducing agent was investigated. The reduction of NO increased with the oxygen concentration, but decreased with the increased temperature. The moisture content in the flue gas affects the reduction of NO as the inhibition of the adsorption of the other components and the reaction on the surface of ACE For the oxidation of NO to NO2 over PAN-ACF without using a reducing gas, it showed the temperature and the oxygen concentration of the flue gas are the important factors for the NO conversion in which the conversion increased with oxygen concentration and decreased with the temperature increase and might be the alternative option for the selective catalytic reduction process.

CO2gas중에서 산화된 활성탄소섬유를 77K에서 질소흡착에 의해 흡착등온곡선을 구하였다. 미세공부피와 외부표면적은 t-법으로 구하였으며, 평균기공크기와 기공분포는 Dubinin-Astakhov법으로 구하여 기공발당과정을 고찰하였다. 산화반응 초기(약 40% burn-off까지)에 섬유내부에 발달하는 미세공은 burn-off가 40%를 넘으면 서서히 큰 미세공으로 성장하며, burn-off가 약 60%이상되면 미세기공은 확대 또는 합체되어 점차 중기공으로 성장하는 것으로 관찰되었다. 또한 고온산화반응으로 발달한 기공은 저온에서 생성된 기공보다 크다.