Synthetic carbons activated with phosphoric acid III. Carbons prepared in air Original Research Article

Synthetic activated carbons were prepared by phosphoric acid activation of a styrene–divinylbenzene copolymer in an air atmosphere at various temperatures in the 400–900 °C interval. The carbons were characterized by elemental analysis, cation-exchange capacity measurement, infrared spectroscopy, potentiometric titration, copper adsorption from solution and physical adsorption of N2 at −196 °C and CO2 at 0 °C. It was shown that, similarly to synthetic phosphoric acid activated carbons obtained in argon, the synthetic carbons activated with phosphoric acid in air possess an acidic character and show considerable cation-exchange properties. The contribution of oxygen-containing surface groups along with phosphorus-containing groups to CEC is higher for carbons obtained in air. Three types of surface groups were identified on carbons prepared at temperatures up to 600 °C, and four types on carbons prepared at higher temperatures. These groups were assigned to ‘super-acidic’ (pK<0), phosphorus-containing (pK=1.1–1.2), carboxylic (pK=4.7–6.0) and phenolic (pK=8.1–9.4) groups. The cation-exchange capacity was at a maximum for the carbon prepared at 800 °C. Copper adsorption by synthetic phosphoric acid activated carbons obtained in air at temperatures lower than 800 °C is higher than for similar carbons obtained in argon. The increase is due to additional formation of oxygen-containing surface groups. Calculated copper binding constants revealed the importance of phosphorus-containing and carboxylic groups for adsorption of copper from aqueous solution. All carbons show a multimodal pore size distribution including simultaneously micropores and mesopores, but the porous texture is not a prime factor in determining the cation-exchange capacities of these carbons. Synthetic phosphoric acid activated carbons show a greater development of porosity when obtained in air as compared to carbons carbonized in argon.