Preparation of Coal Tar Pitch Based Mesoporous Activated Carbon by Template and KOH Activation Method

Mesoporous activated carbons (MACs) were prepared by template synthesis and KOH activation, using modified coal tar pitch and nanosized silica respectively as carbon precursor and imprinting template. The effects of the dispersion of the nanosized silica template in coal tar pitch, the washing procedures, and the mixing ratio of coal tar pitch to template(C/T) on the porous properties of MACs were investigated. It was found that the pore size distributions of MACs were relevant to the amount of template. The mesopore volume of MACs increased with the amount of template added from C/T of 4:1 to C/T of 2:1. No more mesopore volume, however, formed if C/T reached 1. Mesoporous activated carbons were produced with a BET surface area of 1729 m²/g and mesopore specific surface area of 1702 m²/g at the following conditions: C/T was 2:1, the ratio of KOH to carbon was 4.5:1, the activating temperature was 850°C and the activating time was 2hrs.