Surface and Porous Structure Analysis of PAN-Based Activated Carbon Fibers

Surface and porous structure of Polyacrylonitrile(PAN)-based activated carbon fibers(ACFs) were analyzed by means of nitrogen adsorption over a wide range of relative pressure,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)and scanning electron microscopy(SEM).The surface functional groups were analyzed by XPS.Porosity of PAN-based ACF samples at both the fiber surface and fiber cross-section was imaged by using SEM.It was shown that adsorption measurement provided profound insight into the structural heterogeneity of carbonaceous adsorbents,the fraction of surface functional groups were obtained by XPS analysis and porosity were observed directly by SEM.