Activated carbon sheet prepared from softwood acetic acid lignin

As an example of activated carbon (AC) moldings, AC sheets were prepared from thermoplastic acetic acid lignin by lamination. The resulting AC sheets are a new type of product that can be applied as water and air cleaners. Powdered softwood acetic acid lignin (SAL) was molded into sheets by a thermal pressing method. When the sheet was carbonized under a stream of nitrogen at 1000°C, it was deformed with expansion and contained much foam. The deformation during carbonization was suppressed by the addition of pulp to the lignin. A sheet prepared by mixing lignin with pulp was directly carbonized without thermostabilization. The carbonized sheet was activated with steam for 2h. The resulting AC sheet had adsorption properties, such as specific surface and iodine adsorption capacity, comparable to those of commercial AC powders or granules. Furthermore, the AC sheet had a larger capacity to adsorb methane than did the commercial AC powder. Therefore, SAL seems to be a promising source for the AC moldings.