Preparation of pore-size controllable activated carbon fibers from bamboo fibers with superior performance for xenon storage

•Bamboo fiber is proposed for the first time as precursor to prepare activated carbon fiber.•Pore-size controllable bamboo activated carbon fibers (BACFs) are prepared.•A novel gas carrying moisture activation technique is developed for preparing BACFs.•The specific surface area of the as-prepared BACFs is as high as 2169 m2/g.•The as-prepared BACFs are very effective for xenon storage.

Bamboo fiber (BF) is proposed for the first time as precursor to prepare pore-size controllable bamboo activated carbon fiber (BACF) by a novel but facile gas carrying moisture activation technique for xenon storage. This activation technique consists of two major steps: carbonization of BFs and physical activation of carbonized BFs. The as-prepared BACF samples are characterized by Raman, SEM and nitrogen adsorption at 77 K. The effects of the activation temperature, activation time and agent concentration are systematically investigated on the porous texture of the BACF samples and thus on their xenon adsorption capacity. The specific surface area of BACF is up to 2169 m2/g. The dependence of the xenon adsorption capacity on the pore volume or surface area is examined. And the results show that the micropore of the as-prepared BACFs is very effective for xenon storage due to the fact that the micropore (especially ultrafine micropore) shows a very high xenon adsorption density. The maximum xenon uptake has a high value of 158.49 cm3/g for the sample activated at 900 °C for 2 h when the activation agent concentration is equal to 402.6 g/m3.