Abstract
Herein, we investigated novel carbon-containing P123 copolymer-activated boron nitride whiskers (P123-CBNW) fabricated via a structure directing approach followed by a single-step heat treatment under N2. The resulting materials were found to be highly micro- and mesoporous. The influence of the activating agent (P123 copolymer) on the CO2 adsorption efficiency was determined. The prepared samples possessed high specific surface areas (594–1732 m2/g) and micropore volumes (0.258–0.672 cm3/g). The maximum CO2 uptakes of the prepared adsorbents were in the range 136–308 mg/g (3.09–7.01 mmol/g) at 273 K and 1 bar and 97–114 mg/g (2.22–4.62 mmol/g) in the following order: CBNW < P123-CBNW3 < P123-CBNW2 < P123-CBNW1 < P123-CBNW0.5. The isosteric heat of adsorption values (∆Qst) were found to be 33.7–43.7 kJ/mol, demonstrating the physisorption nature of the CO2 adsorption. Extensive analysis revealed that the presence of carbon, the high specific surface area, the high microporosity, and the chemical structural defects within the adsorbents are responsible for raising the CO2 adsorption ability and the selectivity over N2 gas. The fabricated adsorbents show excellent regeneration ability after several repeated adsorption cycles, making the prepared adsorbents promising candidates for gas storage applications.
Highlights
Carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emission is an issue of major concern because CO2 is a primary anthropogenic cause of environment variation and global warming
Extensive analysis revealed that the presence of carbon, the high specific surface area, the high microporosity, and the chemical structural defects within the adsorbents are responsible for raising the CO2 adsorption ability and the selectivity over N2 gas
The results show that a specified concentration of P123 copolymer in containing highly porous activated BN whiskers (CBNW) proved very efficient in improving CO2 uptake by increasing the microporosity and specific surface area of the material
Summary
Carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emission is an issue of major concern because CO2 is a primary anthropogenic cause of environment variation and global warming. Polymers 2019, 11, 913 by adsorption on various porous adsorbents, like covalent and porous organic polymers (COPs and POPs) [12,13,14], hexagonal/porous boron nitride (h-BN) [15,16], silica [17,18], polymeric materials [19], nitrogen doped carbon compounds [20,21], metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) [22,23], and metal oxide based carbonaceous materials [24,25,26], have been introduced as alternatives Among these adsorbents, porous boron nitride compounds (BN) seem to be the most effective because of their identical physiochemical characteristics, including high thermal and chemical durability and conductivity, low density, tunable high specific surface area (almost identical to activated carbon), few morphological defects, and possession of higher ordered chemistry as compared to carbonaceous adsorbents due to the existence of polar B–N bonds [27,28,29,30,31,32]. The results show that a specified concentration of P123 copolymer in CBNW proved very efficient in improving CO2 uptake by increasing the microporosity and specific surface area of the material
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