Chemical Activation and Hydrogenation of Mesophase Pitch-based Carbon Fibers

Abstract

Milled mesophase pitch-based carbon fiber (mMPCF) was applied as a polarizable electrode for electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs). The mMPCF showed quite different activation behavior between physical and chemical activation methods. The effect of the KOH mixing ratio was examined and the influence on the asymmetric lattice structure also was considered. Furthermore, hydrogenation effect on the capacitance behavior is also shown. The reduction reaction by hydrogen did not affect the pore structure which material has, but it was effective to remove only oxygen containing functional group which exists in the surface. Hydrogenation was effective to improve the most important characteristic in practical application, such as cycle stability, coulomb efficiency.