Chemical structure modification of activated carbon fibers by cerous nitrate

The surface chemical structure of activated carbon fibers(ACF) was modified by cerous nitrate.The pore structure and surface chemical structure were characterized by nitrogen adsorption,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) and thermal gravimetric analysis-Fourier transformation infrared integrated technology.Results show that Ce(IV)-treatment can result in about a 10-20 % decrease of specific surface area of the modified ACF,however this treatment cannot obviously change the micro-pore size distribution.Surface chemical structure analysis based on XPS indicates that Ce(IV)-treatment can evidently increase the oxygen content of ACF from 11 to 25 atom% depending on the concentration of cerous nitrate.In situ IR analysis of the decomposition gases from ACF during heating to high temperature shows that the chemical treatment of ACF with a higher concentration of cerous nitrate can form many oxygen-containing groups such as carboxyl or lactone groups on the modified ACF,which is consistent with the results based on XPS.