PET as precursor of microporous carbons:: preparation and characterization

In this paper the preparation and characterization of microporous carbons from polyethylenetereplitalate (PET) is studied. The influence of the carbonization temperature and the activation time on the characteristics of the samples are considered. The textural characteristics are studied by adsorption of gases and vapors as well as by mercury porosimetry. These allow to establish the influence of the experimental treatment parameters in the porous network of the samples. Moreover, the analysis of the adsorption data has been carried out by BET and Dubinin-Radushkevich (DR) equations as well as by the alpha(s)-plot. The results of these analysis are very consistent and permit to determine the porous structure of the samples and also to identify the individual adsorption mechanism. (c) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.