Comparative Characterization of Carbon Adsorbents and Polymer Precursors by Small-Angle X-ray Scattering and Nitrogen Adsorption Methods

V. M. Gun’ko (1, 2) , S. T. Meikle (2) , O. P. Kozynchenko (3) , S. R. Tennison (3) , F. Ehrburger-Dolle (4) , I. Morfin (4) , S. V. Mikhalovsky (2)

1 Chuiko Institute of Surface Chemistry
2 School of Pharmacy & Biomolecular Sciences, University of Brighton, Brighton BN2 4GJ, U.K
3 MAST Carbon International Ltd., Henley Park, Guildford, Surrey, GU3 2AF, U.K.
4 LIPhy - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Physique [Saint Martin d’Hères]

A variety of activated carbons (ACs) with different burnoffdegrees (0-60%) and polystyrene cross-linked with divinylbenzene (PSDVB) were studied using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and nitrogen adsorption methods. The ACs demonstrate increased deviation of the pore shape from themodel of slit-shaped pores with increasing burnoffdegree and parallel increasing contributions of pores in the 0.3-50 nm range. The pore size distributions (PSDs) calculated using SAXS anddensity functional theory (DFT) methods have similar shapes but a more detailed picture for broad pores with SAXS PSDs. ThePSDs and chord length distributions of ACs and PSDVB adsorbents have certain close features depending on the specific surfacearea because contributions of narrower pores and thinner pore walls increase with increasing specific surface area practicallyindependent of the material type

Domaines: Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]; Chimie

V. M. Gun’ko, S. T. Meikle, O. P. Kozynchenko, S. R. Tennison, F. Ehrburger-Dolle, et al.. Comparative Characterization of Carbon Adsorbents and Polymer Precursors by Small-Angle X-ray Scattering and Nitrogen Adsorption Methods. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2011, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 115, pp.10727-10735. ⟨10.1021/jp201835r⟩. ⟨hal-01087304⟩