Preparation of highly developed mesoporous activated carbon fiber from liquefied wood using wood charcoal as additive and its adsorption of methylene blue from solution

Activated carbon fiber (C-WACF) with super high surface area and well-developed small mesopores were prepared by liquefied wood and uses wood charcoal (WC) as additive. The characterization and properties of C-WACF were investigated by XRD, XPS and N2 adsorption. Results showed the pore development was significant at temperatures >750 °C, and reached a maximum BET surface area (2604.7 m2/g) and total pore volume (1.433 cm3/g) at 850 °C, of which 86.8% was from the contribution of the small mesopores of 2–4 nm. It was also found that the mesopore volume and methylene blue adsorption of C-WACF were highly increased as the temperature increases from 750 to 850 °C. Additionally, the reduction of graphitic layers, the obvious changes of functional groups and the more unstable carbons on the surface of C-WACF, which played important roles in the formation of mesopores, were also observed.