Microwave assisted synthesis and characterizations of decorated activated carbon

A novel intermittent microwave assisted method was developed for surface impregnation and electrical properties improvement of decorated activated carbon (DAC), from commercially available activated carbon (AC) and Vulcan carbon (VC). These materials were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrical conductivity. The UV absorption peak in carbon materials is related to electronic transitions between the bonding and antibonding π orbital. Raman spectroscopy and XRD results showed that the higher disorder of amorphous carbon phase arose in DAC, when compared to typical AC. Results from BET analysis had relatively high surface area of 1141m ²/g and total pore size volume of 0.524 m ³/g for DAC. SEM analysis revealed that undefined structure of activated carbon material (~1-3 μm in size) breakage into ~ 100 nm in size over this Vulcan carbon material (~60nm in size) was decorated. From the electrical conductivity (σ) study, the value of σ followed the tendency DAC < VC < AC and increased almost with pressure. High surface area and high conductivity decorated carbon nano structures could be used as candidate hosts for metal electrocatalysts for fuel cell applications.