Development of novel carbon fiber produced from waste fiber by carbonization

The volume of waste fiber has increased rapidly in recent years, and this trend is expected to continue. In this study, therefore, we attempted to convert waste fiber to carbonaceous materials by carbonization and investigated the basic properties of the resulting carbonized fibers. The results demonstrated that pores tend to form and specific surface areas change substantially, depending on the carbonization conditions. The carbonization conditions resulting in the largest specific surface areas included a temperature increase and retention times of 2 h. Carbonization temperatures resulting in the maximum values of 1000°C were 900-1000°C for wool and 1000°C for both polyester and cotton. In particular, the specific surface area of cotton after carbonization at 1000°C was 1253 m²/g, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs showed that cotton retained its fibrous form after carbonization. Thus, it is possible to inexpensively convert waste fibers to carbonaceous material by carbonization. The results indicate that for cotton fiber in particular, the practical application of this process to the production of low-cost fibrous activated carbon would be possible, since cotton fiber retains its fibrous form under carbonization.