CO2Storage Properties of Nanostructured Carbons by a Microwave Plasma Reactor

Mi Tian,Congxiao Shang

doi:10.1155/2015/650682

Abstract

Nanostructured carbon was successfully produced by methane cracking in a relatively low-energy cold plasma reactor designed in-house. A followed thermal treatment was carried out to further enhance its porosity. The modified plasma carbon was then employed for CO2adsorption at 25°C. The as-synthesized plasma carbon and the modified carbon were characterized by BET surface area/pore size analyzer, Raman spectra, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show thermal modification pronouncedly improves BET surface area and porosity of PC due to opening up of accessible micro-/mesopores in the graphitic structure and by the removal of amorphous carbons around the graphite surface. The modified PC displays a higher adsorption capacity at 25°C than that of the commercial activated carbon reported. The low hydrogen storage capacity of the modified PC indicates that it can be considered for CO2removal in syngas.

Highlights

Climate change resulting from the emission of greenhouse gases, especially CO2, has become widespread concern in recent years
BET surface area and porosity of the synthesized plasma carbon and the modified plasma carbon were determined from the argon isotherm (Figure 1)
Nanostructured carbon materials were synthesized by the plasma reactor via methane cracking and further modified by the thermal treatment process

Summary

Introduction

Climate change resulting from the emission of greenhouse gases, especially CO2, has become widespread concern in recent years. Much effort has been made over the last decade to develop various chemical and physical methods for CO2 capture and separation [2,3,4]. Among these approaches, porous or nanosized solid adsorbents have been widely investigated as a medium for CO2 capture and separation, as researchers attempt to exploit their large accessible surface areas and large pore volumes. Donnet et al have summarized the physical methods of activation that involves primary carbonization (below 700∘C) followed by controlled gasification under the action of oxidizing gases at high temperature, up to 1100∘C [17]. The BET surface area of the resulting product is increasing from 502 to 604 m2/g with increasing temperature of treatment

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