Electrochemistry Characteristics of Carbon Nanofibers Grown on the Catalytic Gasified Activated Carbon

Mesoporous materials were prepared by the catalytic gasification of activated carbon and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were then grown on the activated carbon. Catalytic gasification of activated carbon was carried out at 350, 400 and 450 ºC for 1 h at each temperature. The CNFs grown on activated carbon at 600 °C using activated carbon gasified with a 0.1% Ni-Fe catalyst at 450 °C. Surface area of CNFs grown on activated carbon at 600 °C using activated carbon gasified with a 0.1% Ni-Fe catalyst at 450 °C was 2401 m²/g. Additional specific capacitances of the CNFs grown on activated carbon are significantly higher than those of other activated carbons. CNFs grown on the activated carbon electrodes show approximately 144% retention of the specific capacitance, which is higher than that of the activated carbon. Thus, catalytic gasification can be predicted to yield better performance in the Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) in fuel cells and capacitive deionization (CDI) process.