The influence of iron chloride addition to the precursor pitch on the formation of activated carbon fibers

The addition of a suitable metal compound to the precursor pitch before the preparation of carbon fibers is a promising way for obtaining activated carbon fibers with defined porosity and preparing carbon-supported metal catalysts. The introduction of only 0.1 wt.% of FeCl3 modifies not only the textural properties of the carbon fibers, but also their activation behaviour. The metal addition leads to activated carbon fibers with porosities that differ from those obtained using the pristine precursor. The method is interesting for the preparation of activated carbon fiber-supported iron compounds because it is easy and produces dispersed particles. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.