Hybridization of a Polymer inside the Pores of Activated Carbon and Pore Structural Characterization

A polymer, polydicyclopentadiene (PDCPD), is hybridized within the pores of activated carbon (AC) that has micropores and mesopores of ∼4 nm. The hybridization is performed via gas-phase adsorption of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) on AC and subsequent thermal polymerization. It is confirmed from a variety of analytical techniques, such as scanning and transmittance electron microscopies, a nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis, and electrochemical measurements, that there is little PDCPD on the particle surfaces of AC. The nitrogen adsorption–desorption measurement of the resulting AC/PDCPD hybrids reveals that the micropore and mesopore volumes decrease with the increasing amount of the hybridized PDCPD. Moreover, the electric double-layer capacitance decreases and the diffusion resistance increases with the increasing amount of the hybridized PDCPD. These results cannot be explained by a micropore filling model where micropores are first filled with PDCPD. Our experimental results reveal that PDCPD does not exist as layers covering the pore walls of AC but exists as agglomerates uniformly distributing inside both micropores and mesopores.