N2 and CO2 adsorption on activated carbon fibres prepared from Nomex chars Original Research Article

Activated carbon fibres were obtained by pyrolysis followed by CO2 activation of Nomex [poly (m-phenylene isophtalamide)] polymeric fibres in their crystalline form. The materials obtained were characterised by N2 adsorption (77 K), CO2 adsorption (273 K) and XRD. They show BET surface areas up to 1200 m2 g−1, and they are essentially microporous. The pore size distribution is narrower than using Kevlar as precursor. This feature can be related with the degree of crystallinity obtained with the corresponding chars.