Nitrogen-doped microporous carbon materials derived from DBU-modified carboxylic acid polymers for CO2 capture

Abstract

Nitrogen-doped microporous carbon materials were fabricated by carbonization of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene modified carboxylic acid polymers (PDA-DBU) without extra additional activators. The introduction of DBU could not only increase surface nitrogen content that enhanced the alkaline adsorption sites of carbon material itself, but also improved its specific surface area and pore volume. Therefore, CO2 capture capacity of the nonactivated porous carbon (PDA-DBU-800) was 2.98 mmol·g−1 under 1 bar at 25 °C and the CO2 adsorption selectivity based on the IAST adsorbed solution theory was 27.3 (CO2/N2 =85:15). Meanwhile, the dynamic breakthrough experiment further confirmed that PDA-DBU adsorbent exhibited good selective adsorption capacity for CO2. Furthermore, PDA-DBU owned a great stability and reusability. The microporous carbon materials derived from DBU-modified carboxylic acid polymers will be a potential candidate for CO2 capture.