Morphology and Porosity Enhancement of Graphite Nanofibers through Chemical Etching
Abstract
The morphology, structure, and porosity of graphite nanofibers (GNFs) can be significantly modified through simple exposure of the GNFs to acids, followed by a high temperature treatment. This treatment leads to chemical etching, fiber rupture and/or partial exfoliation. The degree of these somewhat competing processes is dependent upon acid exposure conditions and thermal treatment temperature. As the temperature of thermal treatment is increased, both the surface area and pore volume of the modified GNFs are significantly increased. Low-temperature treatments (600-800 °C) tend to favor the formation of micropores, whereas higher temperatures (>800 °C) lead to the formation of mesopores. An extended heat treatment at 1000 °C after acid exposure produces a drastic increase of mesopores and a pronounced change in fiber morphology, evidenced by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. This ability to select the operative pore size of graphitic nanofibers may lead to applications of these materials for energy storage, size-selective catalysis, as well as separation techniques where a finely controlled graphitic pore structure is desired.
Recommended Citation
D. A. Fonseca et al., "Morphology and Porosity Enhancement of Graphite Nanofibers through Chemical Etching," Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, vol. 113, no. 1-3, pp. 178 - 186, Elsevier, Aug 2008.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micromeso.2007.11.016
Department(s)
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Sponsor(s)
United States. Department of Energy
Petroleum Research Fund
Keywords and Phrases
Adsorption; Etching; Porosity; Porous materials; Graphite nanofibers; Porous carbon; Graphite; Adsorption; Etching; Graphite; Porosity; Porous materials; Porous carbon
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1387-1811
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2008 Elsevier, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Aug 2008
Comments
We are grateful for the financial support from the US Department of Energy (DE-FG26-06NT42675) and the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (43431-G10).