Performance of viscose rayon based activated carbon fabric modified by sputtering silver and continuous plasma treatment

In this study, the preparation of viscose rayon based activated carbon fabric (ACF) absorbents with antibacterial ability and modifications introduced by silver sputtering has been investigated. Viscose rayon based knitted fabric, pre-treated by a composite flame retardant, was used as the precursor. The fabric then underwent oxidation, carbonization and activation processes in a semi-open high-temperature erect furnace with a steam activator to produce ACF absorbents. Experimental results have shown that the ACF absorbents produced by the action of mixing steam and air had the largest BET specific surface area at about 1713 m(2)/g and the absorption amount of carbon tetrachloride was about 100.5%. However, the BET specific surface area of ACF-Ag adsorbents decreased because pores were destroyed by etching and deposition of silver particles. The ACF-Ag adsorbent, however, showed effective antibacterial and sterilizing properties. When the ACF-Ag adsorbent was placed in deionized water, a large amount of Ag ions eluted within the first 48 h. The elution gradually decreased after 96 h with about 0.2855 ppm of Ag ions eluting after seven days.