Novel carbon felt composites with pyrocarbon deposited on carbon fiber: Hierarchical microstructure for improved phenol-adsorption.

Carbon felt composites were prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method using Ni(NO3)2as a catalyst and methane as a pyrocarbon precursor. The pyrocarbon which has been deposited on fiber surface increased gradually with increase in deposition temperature. Besides, the surface of the deposited pyrocarbon was seen to contain many micropores. The phenol-adsorption capability evaluation of the composites showed that the adsorption equilibrium was achieved in 90 min, and the maximum adsorption quantity reached was 13.37 mg/g. The Langmuir isotherm model was preferred in fitting the adsorption data compared with the Freundilch isotherm model. The theoretical maximum adsorption was calculated to be 17.45 mg/g. At pH = 5, the adsorption quantity was a minimum of 10.66 mg/g. Moreover, the phenol-adsorption quantity increased with increasing deposition temperature. The adsorption quantity on carbon felt composites without pyrolytic carbon deposition was minimum, being 9.11 mg/g, while that of carbon fiber produced at 950°C reached the maximum of 13.37 mg/g. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]