SynopsisThe synthesis and structure of the p-hydroxybenzoic acid polymer is described. The polymer was successfully prepared from either the phenyl ester of p-hydroxybenzoic acid or from p-acetoxybenzoic acid. With highly purified acetoxyben;oic acid, single crystals of the polymer could be prepared. The structure of the polymer was determined and shown to consist of a double helix where the two chains are in a reversed head-to-tail order. The unit cell dimensions are: a = 17.8 8, and c = 18.4 A, where c corresponds to the chain length with a repeat distance of three units. The mechanism of polymerization and formation of the single crystal is discussed. The polymer displays a reversible high-temperature crystalline transition at 325-360°C (not a melting point). The transition was characterized by differential thermal analysis, differential calorimetry, thermal expansion coefficient measurements, high-temperature x-ray scans, and dielectric constant determinations. Orientation of the polymer chains during fabrication and changes in the mechanism of oxidative degradation above the crystal transition are described.
Activated carbon fibers (ACFs) were oxidized using both aqueous and nonaqueous treatments. As much as 29 wt % oxygen can be incorporated onto the pore surface in the form of phenolic hydroxyl, quinone, and carboxylic acid groups. The effect of oxidation on the pore size, pore volume, and the pore surface chemistry was thoroughly examined. The average micropore size is typically affected very little by aqueous oxidation while the micropore volume and surface area decreases with such a treatment. In contrast, the micropore size and micropore volume both increase with oxidation in air. Oxidation of the fibers produces surface chemistries in the pore that provide for enhanced adsorption of basic (ammonia) and polar (acetone) molecules at ambient and nonambient temperatures. The adsorption capacity of the oxidized fibers for acetone is modestly better than the untreated ACFs while the adsorption capacity for ammonia can increase up to 30 times compared to untreated ACFs. The pore surface chemical makeup was analyzed using elemental analysis, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).
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