Structure, Composition, and Properties of Lint Cotton Samples in Dependence of Carbonization Methods

The structure, elemental and phase compositions, and adsorption activity of lint cotton samples subjected to microwave and thermal carbonization have been investigated. It is found that impurities are nonuniformly deposited on surface layer fibers during microwave carbonization, practically not contaminating fibrils. Microwave heating causes more active development of the porous structure of fiber. The amorphous phase content is higher in the thermally carbonized sample. The most likely crystalline phases formed in the samples during carbonization are identified to be the graphite phase with a hexagonal lattice and the carbon phase with a tetragonal lattice. The adsorption activity of the microwave-carbonized sample is higher by a factor of almost 3 than that of the thermally carbonized one; in addition, the heating time is much shorter, and the output of ready material is larger. The results obtained demonstrated good prospects of the microwave carbonization method.