Preparation of microporous carbon foams for adsorption/desorption of water vapor in ambient air

Microporous carbon foams were prepared from a fluorinated polyimide using melamine foam as a template. The adsorption/desorption behavior of water vapor in ambient air was examined. The activation of carbon foams at 400 °C for 1 h in air was found to be effective in increasing the adsorptivity of water vapor. The amount of water vapor adsorbed after air activation was almost 3 times as large as that before activation, although the micropore volume increase was only 1.5 times. The reversible adsorptivity for water vapor in ambient air showed a linear dependence on micropore volume with an adsorptivity of about 40 % mass fraction for a micropore volume of 0.75 mL/g.