Utilization of spent dregs for the production of activated carbon for CO2 adsorption

The objective of this work was preparation of activated carbon from spent dregs for carbon dioxide adsorption. A saturated solution of KOH was used as an activating agent. Samples were carbonized in the furnace at the temperature of 550°C. Textural properties of activated carbons were obtained based on the adsorption-desorption isotherms of nitrogen at −196°C and carbon dioxide at 0°C. The specific surface areas of activated carbons were calculated by the Brunauer – Emmett – Teller equation. The volumes of micropores were obtained by density functional theory method. The highest CO2 adsorption was 9.54 mmol/cm3 at 0°C – and 8.50 mmol/cm3 at 25°C.

Novel photochromic infinite coordination polymer particles derived from a diarylethene photoswitch

A novel infinite coordination polymer (DAE-ICP) based on zinc nitrite and a diarylethene photoswitch, with reversible photochromic properties in solution and the solid state upon applying photostimuli, was synthesized and characterized by FT-IR, EDX, FE-SEM and FE-TEM.

Poly(vinylidene chloride)-based carbon with ultrahigh microporosity and outstanding performance for CH4 and H2 storage and CO2 capture

Poly(vinylidene chloride)-based carbon (PC) with ultrahigh microporisity was prepared by simple carbonization and KOH activation, exhibiting great potential to be superior CO2, CH4, and H2 adsorbent at high pressures. The CO2 uptake for pristine PC is highly up to 3.97 mmol/g at 25 °C and 1 bar while the activated PC exhibits a slightly lower uptake at 1 bar. However, the activated PC has an outstanding CO2 uptake of up to 18.27 mmol/g at 25 °C and 20 bar. Gas uptakes at high pressures are proportional to the surface areas of carbons. The CH4 uptake for the activated PC is up to 10.25 mmol/g (16.4 wt % or 147 v/v) at 25 °C and 20 bar which is in a top-ranked uptake for large surface area carbons. Furthermore, H2 uptake on the activated PC reaches 4.85 wt % at -196 °C and 20 bar. Significantly, an exceptionally large H2 storage capacity of up to 2.43 wt % at 1 bar was obtained, which is among the largest value reported to date for any porous adsorbents, to the best of our knowledge. The ease of preparation and large capture capacities endow this kind of carbon attractive as promising adsorbent for CH4, H2, and CO2 storage.