Iodine-assisted control of the pore and morphology in the porous carbons prepared by the carbonization of ion-exchange resins

Abstract

Abstract In this study, iodine stabilization treatment was employed to prepare spherical porous carbons by the carbonization of the Na+-form and K+-form of acrylic ion-exchange resins. Iodine treatment led to the increased carbonization yield of carbon and the successful maintenance of the bead shape of the raw resin. The as-obtained carbons contained by-products such as alkali metal carbonate or iodide. The removal of these salts with water led to carbons with well-developed porous structure. In addition, the pore size distribution and surface area changed with the variation in the iodine treatment time and carbonization temperature. The 1-h iodine-treated K+-form resin was converted to spherical carbon with the highest surface area of around 2000 m2/g at a carbonization temperature of 800 °C. Above this temperature, meso/macropores were introduced because of the considerable emphasis of the activation effect of the by-products.