Abstract: The effects of four important factors, including dosage of activating agent, activation temperature, activation time, and flow rate of protecting gas, on the specific surface area of activated carbon nanotubes (ACNTs) using KOH as the activating agent were discussed and the possible reasons were proposed. The results showed that the specific surface area of ACNTs could be greatly affected by modifying the four factors amongst which the dosage of activating agent was found to be the dominant one which could result about 241 m²•g^-1 of change in specific surface area. The specific surface area of ACNTs was only continuously enlarged with increasing the activation temperature, but had respective maximum with modifying the other factors in the experiments. The performance of meso-pores and macro-pores of the ACNTs was preserved in the process of modifying the four factors.

Key words: Specific surface area, Activated carbon nanotubes, Activation conditions