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Preparation and characterization of pitch-derived activated carbon pellet for butane adsorption

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Abstract

In this study, Pitch-derived activated carbon (PAC) pellets were by steam activation for automotive carbon canisters. The crystal structure of PAC was analyzed using X-ray diffraction. The textural properties of PAC were studied by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Horvath-Kawazoe (HK), and Non-Localized Density Functional Theory (NLDFT) equations with N2/77 K isotherm adsorption/ desorption curves. The butane adsorption capacity of the PAC pellets was analyzed according to the ASTM D5228 standard. With increasing steam activation time, the specific surface area and total pore volume of the PAC increased 650–1950 m2/g and 0.27–1.02 cm3/g, respectively. The mesopore ratio of PAC increased with increasing activation time and was observed up to 28.4% at 190 min. The butane adsorption capacity of the PAC increased and was observed to range from 10.86 to 51.55%. A close relationship between butane adsorption capacity and pore size (1.47–2.39 nm) was found. Finally, the butane activity of PAC was found to be 51.55% for the steam activated at 950 ℃ for 190 min; this butane activity is 24% better than that of the coconut-derived activated carbon (41.43%) with a similar specific surface area, indicating that pitch is a suitable material for the activated carbon of automotive carbon canisters.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This research was supported by the Technology Innovation Project funded by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Project no. 20013038). This research was supported by the Nano-Material Technology Development Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (NRF-2019M3A7B9071501). This research was supported by the “Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS)” through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education(MOE) (2023RIS-008).

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Author notes

  1. Byeong-Hoon Lee and Young-Jun Kim have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. R&BD Group 1, Korea Carbon Industry Promotion Agency (KCARBON), Jeonju, 54853, Republic of Korea

    Byeong-Hoon Lee, Young-Jun Kim & Hye-Min Lee

  2. Department of Carbon Materials and Fiber Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, 54896, Republic of Korea

    Byeong-Hoon Lee & Young-Jun Kim

  3. Department of Advanced Materials and Chemical Engineering, Jeonju University, Jeonju, 55069, Republic of Korea

    Byung-Joo Kim

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  1. Byeong-Hoon Lee
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Correspondence to Hye-Min Lee or Byung-Joo Kim.

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Lee, BH., Kim, YJ., Lee, HM. et al. Preparation and characterization of pitch-derived activated carbon pellet for butane adsorption. Carbon Lett. 34, 691–701 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-023-00650-9

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