Fabrication of activated carbon nanoparticles from PAN precursor

• This research revealed the superiority of the porous characteristics of activated carbon nanoparticles relative to activated carbon nanofibers.
• Activation process leads to a decrease of about 13% for the size of activated carbon nanoparticles in comparison to polyacrylonitrile nanoparticles precursors.
• The total pore volume, micropore volume and mesopore volume of activated carbon nanoparticles are 4 times, 3 times and about 1.5 times higher than that of activated carbon nanofibers, respectively.

Activated carbon is an important gas and liquid filtering media thanks to its highly porous structure. Activated carbon is produced in a number of forms namely, powder, granule and recently fibers or fiber assemblies. Basically, reducing the size of particles to nano dimensions brings about drastic changes in the performance of powders as a result of increased specific surface area. This research aimed at producing activated carbon nanoparticles (ACNP) from polyacrylonitrile electrosprayed nanoparticles precursors. Moreover, their porous structure was investigated. The produced ACNPs were compared with an activated carbon nanofiber (ACNF) as well. The results showed that activation process leads to a decrease of about 13% for the size of ACNPs in comparison to polyacrylonitrile nanoparticles precursors. The results also showed that the iodine number for the three ACNP samples was about 1200 mg/g. The iodine number of the ACNF was 985 mg/g. Hence ACNPs enjoy a higher adsorption capacity when compared with ACNFs. The specific surface of ACNPs measured by BET analysis was 1604, 1620 and 1641 m2/g; whereas the specific surface of ACNFs was only 583 m2/g. The total pore volume, micropore volume and mesopore volume of ACNPs were 4 times, 3 times and about 1.5 times higher than that of ACNFs, respectively. Raman spectroscopy showed the existence of both graphite and disordered regions in ACNPs. This research revealed the superiority of the adsorption properties of ACNPs to ACNFs.