Materials for activated carbon fiber synthesis

Activated carbon fibers (ACFs) are modern materials that combine the best of carbon fibers and activated carbon with a number of significant advantages over the more traditional powder or granular forms. Advantages of activated carbon fiber compared to classical active carbon include its higher adsorption capacity, higher surface areas, more rapid adsorption rates, and ease of fabrication. Activated carbon fibers can be synthesized using different raw materials, such as phenolic resins, mesophase pitch, pitch fiber, polyacrylonitrile, or biomass. High surface area, controlled pore size, and pore size, distribution are necessary for the application of these materials into a specific end use. Thus, the specific surface area and porosity of carbon fibers can be significantly modified by an activation process that removes the most reactive carbon atoms from the structure, increasing the surface area and porosity. The porous texture of the activated carbons depends strongly on the activation process (physical or chemical), raw material, initial pore structure, surface roughness, and surface functionalities.