Oxygen adsorption properties of pyrolyzed cellulose

Celluloses pyrolyzed around 400 °C showed a large amount of O2 adsorption at 25 °C under 0.1 MPa in spite of their small surface area and being considered non-porous. The uptake amount of O2 was enhanced by two to three times by modification of the cellulose with NaOH or KOH solutions before heat treatment. TG-mass analysis revealed that the reaction pathway of the pyrolysis in the modified-cellulose was different from that in the as-received cellulose, which could improve oxygen adsorption properties. In contrast, less improvement in N2 adsorption properties was achieved for the pyrolyzed cellulose in all heat treatments studied.