CARBON MONOLITHS AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURING CARBON MONOLITHS
A method of manufacturing a carbon monolith the includes obtaining coal based pitch, melt blowing the coal based pitch into a plurality of carbon fibers forming a nonwoven fiber mat, and fusing the plurality of carbon fibers at contact points between the carbon fibers. The carbon monolith does not use a binder to bind the carbon fibers together.
1 . A method of manufacturing a carbon monolith comprising:
obtaining coal based pitch;
melt blowing the coal based pitch into a plurality of carbon fibers forming a nonwoven fiber mat;
fusing the plurality of carbon fibers at contact points between the carbon fibers; and
shaping the fused carbon fibers.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising melt blowing the coal based pitch into a plurality of nonwoven fibers mats, each nonwoven fiber mat comprises a plurality of carbon fibers.
3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising stacking the plurality of nonwoven fiber mats.
4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising compressing the stacked plurality of nonwoven fiber mats to produce the carbon monolith with a predetermined density and pore structure.
5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of carbon fibers of each nonwoven fiber mat are randomly oriented.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the coal based pitch is isotropic.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the coal based pitch is anisotropic.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the coal based pitch is mesophase pitch.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the fusing the plurality of carbon fibers occurs during an oxygen stabilization process.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method of manufacturing does not use a binder to bind the plurality of carbon fibers.
11 . A carbon monolith comprising:
a plurality of nonwoven fiber mats compressed together to form the carbon monolith, wherein each nonwoven fiber mat of the plurality of nonwoven fiber mats comprises a plurality of melt blown carbon fibers, and
wherein the plurality of melt blown carbon fibers are fused together at contact points between adjacent melt blown carbon fibers.
12 . The carbon monolith of claim 11 , wherein the carbon monolith does not have a binder to bind the melt blown carbon fibers.
13 . The carbon monolith of claim 11 , wherein the carbon monolith is configured to adsorb volatile organic compounds.
14 . The carbon monolith of claim 11 , wherein the carbon monolith is configured to adsorb aqueous greenhouse gases from wastewater.
15 . The carbon monolith of claim 11 , wherein the carbon monolith is configured to dehumidify air.
16 . The carbon monolith of claim 11 , wherein the carbon monolith is configured to adsorb air contaminants.
17 . The carbon monolith of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of melt blown carbon fibers of each nonwoven fiber mat are randomly oriented.
18 . A carbon monolith comprising:
a plurality of nonwoven fiber mats compressed together to form the carbon monolith, wherein each nonwoven fiber mat of the plurality of nonwoven fiber mats consists of a plurality of melt blown carbon fibers, and
wherein the plurality of melt blown carbon fibers are fused together at contact points between adjacent melt blown carbon fibers.
19 . The carbon monolith of claim 18 , wherein the plurality of melt blown carbon fibers of each nonwoven fiber mat are randomly oriented.
20 . The carbon monolith of claim 18 , wherein the carbon monolith is configured to adsorb a specific compound.