Influence of the Precursor Metamorphism Degree on Preparation of Nitrogen-enriched Activated Carbons by Ammoxidation and Chemical Activation of Coals

Abstract

The paper presents results of a study on obtaining N-enriched active carbons from four hard coals with different degree of metamorphism. The starting materials were carbonized, activated with KOH, and ammoxidized by a mixture of ammonia and air at the ratio 1:3 at 300 and 350 °C, at each stage of the active carbon production. The efficiency of ammoxidation was found to depend on the degree of metamorphism of the precursor, the stage of processing at which ammoxidation is performed, and the temperature of this process. Ammoxidation of the active carbon led to a decrease in their surface area and pore volume, whereas that performed both at the stage of the precursor and the carbonizate brought improvement of textural parameters of the active carbons obtained. The sequence of the carbonization, activation, and ammoxidation processes had a significant effect on the acid−base character of the active carbon samples obtained. The majority of the active carbons modified at the stage of precursor and carbonizate showed considerable prevalence of surface acidic groups, whereas the samples ammoxidized after activation showed an intermediate acidic−basic character of the surface.