Um Excelente Precursor para a Preparação de Carvões Activados com Elevada Estabilidade Térmic

Abstract

A series of activated carbons (AC) with high surface areas and micropore volumes were prepared from granulated PEEK by physical activation with CO2 at different temperatures. As the activation temperature increased, between 873 and 1173K, the burn off, the BET surface area, the micropore volume and the mean pore size increased too. The AC prepared at 1173K, with 74% burn off presented a high micropore volume of 1.27 cm3g-1 and a mean pore size of 2.17nm, which are characteristics very important for aqueous phase applications. The thermogravimetric analysis allowed us to conclude that the AC obtained from PEEK are thermo resistant. PEEK polymer has never previously been used before as a precursor for AC production, maybe because of its high cost. However, the collective results confirm that, PEEK is an excellent precursor for preparing activated carbon with a high carbonisation yield, a high micropore volume and surface area and finally, a very high resistance at elevated temperature.