Influence of CO-evolving groups on the activity of activated carbon fiber for SO2 removal

An investigation was made into the influence of CO-evolving and CO2-evolving groups on the activities of activated carbon fibers (ACFs) for the oxidative conversion of SO2 into aq. H2SO4 in the presence of O2 and H2O. The results indicated that the amount of evolved CO determined the SO2 removal activity of ACFs, whereas, the amount of evolved CO2 did not correlate with the ACFs activity for SO2 removal. A direct proportionality between the amount of evolved CO and the enhanced activity of SO2 removal was confirmed by using different oxidizing agents for changing the types and amount of oxygen functional groups in ACFs.