Preparation of activated carbon cloth from viscous rayon

Abstract The chemical activation of viscous rayon fabric was carried out by impregnation with solutions of different chemicals (NH4Cl, AlCl3, ZnCl2, CuCl2, FeCl3, H3PO4 or Na2HPO4), followed by carbonisation in an inert atmosphere. Impregnation modifies the pyrolysis of the precursor, favouring dehydration over depolymerisation, thus resulting in larger yield in respect to carbonisation of the unimpregnated fabric. The effect of each impregnant on yield, flexibility, strength and porosity of the resulting carbon cloth is analysed.