Activated carbon fiber for environmental protection

In the past decade, different research has been carried out in the area of environmental remediation processes. The tunable physical, chemical, and electrical properties of activated carbons and carbon fibers have encouraged innovative solutions tackling persistent environmental challenges. Among commercial porous storage materials used, activated carbon fiber (ACF) has great advantages. It is a microporous material having the shape of a fiber, as well as a well-defined porous structure. This book chapter zooms in on the ACF for environmental protection. It begins with the description of the background and development of carbon materials and ACF. Then, it proceeds to delineate steps involved in yielding ACFs. The porosity of carbon materials was evaluated by employing the activated carbon model. Finally, the chapter closes with the applications of carbon fibers activated in various processes such as filtration, adsorption, electrochemical water treatment, and photocatalysis.