The preparation of a mesoporous carbon was attempted by a steam
activation of a mixture of
coal and metal acetylacetonate at 900 °C. The resultant porosity
of the activated carbon was
influenced more by the type of acetylacetonate
[Al(acac)3, Y(acac)3,
TiO(acac)2, or Zr(acac)4)]
than
by the rank of the coal (Miike, Taiheiyo, and Morwell). Samples
obtained from TiO(acac)2 showed
a particularly high mesoporosity even at an early stage of activation,
as evaluated by the BET
and BJH analysis of the N2 adsorption isotherm. To
clarify the influence of TiO(acac)2 on
the
mechanism of formation of a remarkable amount of mesopores, the
structure of the activated
carbon derived from the Ti complex was investigated by X-ray
diffraction measurements and
observations with a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The
carbon matrix was composed
of small graphite-like crystallites with mesopores and TiO2
(rutile and brookite) particles dispersed
homogeneously throughout the whole matrix. The shape of the
characteristic mesopores
resembled that of the TiO2 particles. The particle
size distribution determined by image analysis
of a TEM photograph quantitatively shows the similarities in the
average size of TiO2 particles
and pores. It is believed that the formation of mesoporosity in
the activated carbon is closely
related to the migration of TiO2 from the carbon
matrix.