Optimum manufacturing conditions of activated carbon fiber absorbents. II. Effect of carbonization and activation conditions

In this paper, viscose rayon-based knitted fabrics were utilized as the precursor to produce activated carbon fiber absorbents (ACFA). The effects of carbonization and activation conditions on characteristics (ACFA) were examined. Experimental results revealed that increasing the flow rate of environmental gas N₂ and steam activator used in conjunction and decreasing the production rate of ACFA can obtain better pore properties. However, higher flow rate of steam activator and lower production rate of ACFA reduced the weight yield. According to our findings, to maintain good absorption property of ACFA, the optimum manufacturing conditions are flow rate of gas N₂ at 80 cc/min, flow rate of steam activator at 60 ml/min, and production rate of ACFA at 30 cm/min, with flame retardant reagent concentration maintained at 30%. Under these conditions, the weight yield can be up to 40.85% and the BET surface area can exceed 1500 g/m².