Carbon dioxide captured by multi-walled carbon nanotube and activated charcoal: A comparative study

Abstract

this study, the equilibrium adsorption of CO2 on activated charcoal (AC) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) were investigated. Experiments were performed at temperature range of 298-318 K and pressures up to 40 bars. The obtained results indicated that the equilibrium uptakes of CO2 by both adsorbents increased with increasing pressure and decreasing temperature. In spite of lower specific surface area, the maximum amount of CO2 uptake achieved by MWCNT at 298K and 40 bars were twice of CO2 capture by AC (15 mmol.g-1 compared to 7.93 mmol.g-1). The higher CO2 captured by MWCNT can be attributed to its higher pore volume and specific structure of MWCN T such as hollowness and light mass which had greater influence than specific surface area. The experimental data were analyzed by means of Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherm models. Following a simple acidic treatment procedure increased marginally CO2 capture by MWCNT over entire range of pressure, while for AC this effect appeared at higher pressures. Small values of isosteric heat of adsorption were evaluated based on Clausius-Clapeyron equation showed the physical nature of adsorption mechanism. The high amount of CO2 capture by MWCNT renders it as a promising carrier for practical applications such as gas separation.