Improvement of mesoporosity of activated carbons from pet by novel pre-treatment for steam activation

The method of preparing mesoporous activated carbons useful for the adsorption of large molecules is desirable. The development of mesoporosity of activated carbons using catalytic effects of metal compounds has been previously reported. However, a non catalytic activation method which produces pores whose radii range between 2 similar to 10 nm has not been reported as far as we are aware. The objective of present work is to propose a novel pre-treatment method for steam activation without gasification catalyst to improve the mesoporosity of activated carbons. In this article a calcium compound was mixed with raw material(PET), the samples were carbonized, and an acid treatment was then performed. We can completely wash the calcium compound out of the carbons by the acid treatment. After this pre-treatment the carbon was activated by steam. Although the catalytic activation was not expected, we can prepare activated carbons that have large mesoporosity.