Separation of Organic Compounds Dissolved in Water by Surface-modified Activated Carbon Fibers

Abstract

Adsorption characters of various organics on activated carbon fiber (ACF) have been studied. ACF of cellulose resin base and of phenol resin base, which have a lot of micropores (D=1-2 nm) are used as adsorbents, and these are treated with hydrogen gas at 1000°C to eliminate groups on the ACFs' surface. The adsorbed amounts of organics for the unmodified ACF are not so much as that for an usual carbon adsorbent. Even when the surface-modified ACF are used, the adsorbed amounts of large molecular size organics are smaller than that for the carbon adsorbent with mesopores. However, the adsorbed amounts of small molecular size organics are particularly large for the surfacemodified ACF. This may be caused by a lot of micropores existing. The adsorption character of organics is highly dependent on the pore size distribution of adsorbents. Moreover, it is also of importance to eliminate surface groups from adsorbents.