Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1418490 Carbon 2008 10 Pages PDF
Abstract

A series of porous carbons have been prepared by the carbonization of spherical porous sulfonated divinylbiphenyl (DVBPh) copolymers. Carbons in spherical bead form were obtained by the pyrolysis of H+, Na+, Cs+, Cu2+, Co2+ and Fe3+ forms of the sulfonated DVBPh beads. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in an inert nitrogen atmosphere (25–900 °C) was carried out on the DVBPh copolymer precursor, the sulfonated copolymer sample and various ionic forms of the resin. The TGA data provides evidence that the sulfonation process thermally stabilized the polymer resulting in a higher final carbon yield. It was found that the pyrolysis yield was ca. 40% for the sulfonic acid derivative and between 40% and 65% for the various sulfonic acid salts. The highest yield was observed for the monovalent sodium and cesium ionic forms of the sulfonated DVBPh copolymers. Low temperature nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms provided information on the porous structure of the polymer precursors and the carbons prepared from them. The pore structure in the carbons was found to a large extent to be similar to the porous structure of the starting sulfonated resin material, however, the metal form was found to impact on the micropore structure of the resulting carbons. The carbon materials prepared were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to provide information on the form of the residual sulfur in the carbons. XPS results suggest that the ionic form of the sulfonic resin influences the amount and the form of the sulfur and this may be correlated with the yield of the final carbon.

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Physical Sciences and Engineering Energy Energy (General)
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