Liu X, Sun Y, Liu J, Sun C, Liu H, Xue Q, Smith E, Snape C. Potassium and Zeolitic Structure Modified Ultra-microporous Adsorbent Materials from a Renewable Feedstock with Favorable Surface Chemistry for CO
2 Capture.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2017;
9:26826-26839. [PMID:
28696096 DOI:
10.1021/acsami.7b06665]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Novel hierarchically structured microporous biocarbons with exceptionally high capacities for CO2 capture have been synthesized from the abundant agricultural waste of rice husk (RH), using a facile methodology that effectively integrated carbonization, activation, and potassium intercalation into a one-step process. Textural characterization demonstrates that the synthesized biocarbons exhibit exceedingly high ultra-microporosity accounting for up to 95% of total porosity mainly as a result of the naturally occurring silicon compounds within the RH molecular framework structures. With a modest surface area of up to 1035 m2/g and a total pore volume of 0.43 cm3/g, the best performing RH carbon has shown exceptionally high and fully reversible CO2 uptake capacity of 2.0 mmol/g at 25 °C and a CO2 partial pressure of 0.15 bar, which represents one of the highest uptakes ever reported for both carbon and MOF materials usually prepared from using cost-prohibitive precursor materials with cumbersome methodologies. It has been found that up to 50% of the total CO2 uptake is attributable to the unique surface chemistry of the RH carbons, which appears to be dominated by the enhanced formation of extra-framework potassium cations owing to the exceedingly high levels of ultra-microporosity and the presence of zeolitic structures incorporated within the carbon matrices. Characterizations by EDX element mapping, XPS, and heat of adsorption measurements confirm the existence of a range of zeolitic structures, which essentially transforms the RH carbons into a kind of zeolite-carbon nanocomposite material with strong surface affinity for CO2.
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