REDUCTION ADSORPTION OF SILVER IONS AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION ON ACTIVATED CARBON FIBERS

Several kinds of pitch based activated carbon fibers (ACF) were prepared by steam activation, zinc chloride, or phosphoric acid activation. The reduction characteristics of silver ions on these ACF were studied, and the distribution of the reduced silver particles on them were carefully observed by SEM. The results show that silver ions were reduced to metallic silver in micro to nano size. Moreover, the particle size of the silver adsorbed on ACF with a large microporosity but low degree of graphitization was less than that on those ACF with few micropores and a degree of graphitization. Therefore, the reduced silver particle size can be controlled to nanometre scale by preparing ACF with the correct method as well as adjusting the initial concentration of silver ions in the solution.