KOH activation of pitch-derived carbonaceous materials—Effect of carbonization degree

Two series of mesophase pitches and semi-cokes of different carbonization degree were produced by heat treatment of anthracene oil derived pitches P1 and P4 in the temperature range of 460–700 °C. These carbonaceous materials were activated with potassium hydroxide at 700 °C using 1:3 reagents ratio to assess the effects of the precursor optical texture and carbonization degree on the activation behavior. The results show that the increase in the pitch pretreatment temperature suppresses propensity to the pore generation while enhancing particle breaking. The effect can be illustrated by decreases in the BET surface area SBET from ~ 2700 to ~ 1500 m2 g−1 and the micropore volume VDR from ~ 0.85 to ~ 0.45 cm3 g−1. These parameters are inversely related with the H/C atomic ratio of precursor. In contrast, the anisotropic development of pitch coke, varying from flow type to mosaics, has a slight effect on the activation behaviour. The mechanism of porosity generation, that is proposed, stresses the role of hydrogen occurring at the edges of graphene layers and potassium metal insertion/deinsertion on the porosity development and particle disintegration during KOH activation of pitch-derived carbons.