Preparation and characterization of chemically activated carbon materials for CO2capture

Abstract

Activated carbon (AC) has attracted considerable interest because of its low cost, availability, facile tunability, and thermal stability. In this work, chemically activated carbon materials were prepared with different amounts of KOH (i.e., AC/KOH ratios of 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, and 1:4). The specific surface area and micropore volume were analyzed via N2 adsorption- desorption isotherms at 77 K. The CO2 adsorption capacity was investigated by CO2 adsorption-desorption isotherms at 298 K and 1 bar. The indoor CO2 capture capacities of the samples were examined in a manufactured chamber at the laboratory scale. The K2-AC sample exhibited a large specific surface area (1507 m2/g) and high total pore volume (0.670 cm3/g) and micropore volume (0.580 cm3/g). The prepared KOH-AC samples exhibited a high CO2 capture capacity of 144.5 mg/g (at an AC/KOH ratio of 1:2). Therefore, we proved that the CO2 capture capacity is significantly affected by chemical activation.