Sustainable Synthesis of Highly Functionalized Activated Carbon using Plasma Technology

Surface functionalized activated carbon (SFAC) has been used for several applications, including adsorption, catalysis and energy storage materials. Existing chemical and physical activation methods for surface functionalization are mostly identified as expensive, inefficient, and non-green methods. Plasma, known as the fourth state of matter, has recently been recognized as an attractive and sustainable method for introducing a higher degree of surface functionality to activated carbon. It also improves the bulk chemical structure and the properties of SFAC. The surface functionalization process is governed by discharge gas, discharge source, discharge efficiency and discharge time. The majority of researchers have utilized oxygen plasma as the discharge gas. However, ammonia, carbon dioxide, atmospheric air, specific gases such as chlorine and hydrogen sulfide, and neutral gases such as nitrogen and argon have also been used as the discharge gas. These plasma activations were conducted under different power conditions (W to kW) and varying treatment times (seconds to hours) using different plasma sources such as dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), arc, radio frequency (RF) and microwave (MW) for the surface functionalization. Most of the researchers have experienced both positive and negative co-relationships between principal parameters and surface functional groups (SFGs), surface area, porosity and other surface features such as roughness and hydrophilicity. However, a comprehensive review on the effects of these parameters on the final material properties is lacking. Therefore, this Review focuses on the recent developments in the utilization of plasma as a surface activation technique for activated carbon. Furthermore, an in-depth analysis of the relationship between experimental parameters and the resultant surface features of activated carbon is carried out and discussed. The functionalization mechanisms related to plasma activation have also been illustrated. The aging effect, which negatively impacts surface functionalized activated carbon, is also emphasized. Finally, the recent advances in applications of SFAC, challenges and future perspectives are discussed in detail.