Specific surface area characteristic analysis of porous carbon prepared from lignin-polyacrylonitrile copolymer by activation conditions1 korapp

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the effect of temperature on specific surface area and electrochemical properties when lignin-based porous carbon (LBPC) with potassium hydroxide (KOH) is activated. After preparing LBPCs using lignin-polyacrylonitrile (PAN) copolymer, which was synthesized by graft polymerizing lignin and acrylonitrile as a precursor, activated LBPCs (KA-LBPC-6, 7, 8, 9) were manufactured by activating LBPC with KOH at 600℃, 700℃, 800℃ and 900℃. To identify the surface characteristics of KA-LBPC, observations were made with a scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the pore characteristics were identified via specific surface area analysis. The electrochemical properties were analyzed using a three-electrode system. The experiment has shown that micropores formed by activation can be observed in SEM images. KA-LBPC-7 had the best pore characteristics among KA-LBPCs, with a specific surface area of 2480.1 m2/g, a micropore volume of 0.64 cm3/g, and a mesopore volume of 0.76 cm3/g. KA-LBPC-7 showed the best electrochemical properties with a specific capacitance of 151.3 F/g at the scan rate of 2 mV/s.