Journal of Textile Research ›› 2025, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (09): 250-257.doi: 10.13475/j.fzxb.20241105302

• Comprehensive Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research progress in activated micro/nano-carbon fibers for adsorption of volatile organic compounds

DU Jing, ZHOU Anqi, SHI Yingxin, WANG Yue, LIU Qixia, SHAN Haoru, YU Caijiao, GE Jianlong()   

  1. School of Textile and Clothing, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226019, China
  • Received:2024-11-23 Revised:2025-05-26 Online:2025-09-15 Published:2025-11-12
  • Contact: GE Jianlong E-mail:gejianlong@ntu.edu.cn

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Abstract:

Significance Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic compounds with a lower boiling point, typically existing in the atmosphere in the form of vapour. In recent years, the rapid development of petrochemical, transportation, construction, interior decoration and other industries has resulted in the emission of a significant quantity of toxic and harmful VOCs into the atmosphere. These VOCs have been identified as a source of environmental contamination and are also known to have adverse effects on human health. Therefore, the control of VOCs pollution represents a crucial aspect of environmental protection, particularly in terms of safeguarding human health and the natural environment. Activated carbon fibers (ACFs) are promising adsorbents for the treatment of VOCs pollutions owing to their advantages of high surface area, including shallow pores, and good flexibility for the textile engineering. Up to now, some advanced ACFs, including micro ACFs and nano ACFs have been developed for VOCs adsorption. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the development status of ACFs for VOCs adsorption, this paper presents a systematic investigation of the application field of micro/nano ACFs in VOCs adsorption, which is seldomly reported before.

Progress In order to achieve a greater effect in the removal of VOCs, both micro and nano ACFs are being developed with an increased specific surface area, greater adsorption capacity, a faster adsorption rate and a competitive adsorption priority by adopting porous carbon materials. Typically, the fabrication process of ACFs includes preparation of organic precursor fibers, stabilization of precursor fibers, carbonization and activation. The organic precursors most commonly used for the preparation of ACFs include cellulose, pitch, polyacrylonitrile, and phenolic resin. The physical and chemical structures of ACFs prepared by different precursors are distinct. In order to further enhance the adsorption capabilities of ACFs, it is essential to meticulously regulate the morphology, pore structure, and surface physical/chemical properties of ACFs. The influence of the properties of organic precursor fibers, techniques of carbonization and activation, and the functionalization strategies are crucial for the improvement of the VOCs adsorption performance of ACFs, which were summarized and preliminary discussed.

Conclusion and Prospect Micro/nano ACFs, as an emerging type of porous carbon adsorption materials, have shown broad application prospects in the field of VOCs adsorption and separation. This review summarizes the research progress of micro/nano ACFs for VOCs adsorption, and analyzes the effects of different precursor polymer types, carbonization and activation processes on the physicochemical structure and VOCs adsorption performance of ACFs. The results indicate that the existing ACFs for VOCs adsorption are usually prepared from polymeric fibers rich in carbon elements as precursors by carbonization and activation. The organic precursors for micro ACFs are usually cellulose fibers, pitch fibers, polyacrylonitrile fibers, and phenolic resin fibers, and the precursors of nano ACFs are mainly polymeric nanofibers prepared from polyacrylonitrile, phenolic resin fibers, and some other mixed polymers by electrospinning. In addition, according to application requirements, effective control over the specific surface area, pore structure (pore size, pore volume, pore shape), and surface chemical properties (nitrogen/oxygen functional group type and content) of ACFs can be achieved by changing the precursor fiber type and optimizing the carbonization activation process, thereby improving their adsorption performance for different types of VOCs. In future research, focusing on selecting suitable precursor polymers, developing efficient modification/activation methods, and deepening adsorption mechanism research, it is expected to develop new generation of ACFs to meet the requirement of VOCs adsorption.

Key words: volatile organic compound, adsorptive removal, porous carbon material, activated carbon fiber, carbon nanofiber

CLC Number: 

  • TQ342

Fig.1

Activated carbon fibers for VOCs adsorption and their precursor polymers"

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