Preparation of new carbon molecular sieves for optimized carbon dioxide adsorption and product yield

Abstract

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD)from methane on activated carbon prepared by zinc chloride activation of residue extracted from sunflower seeds, has been optimized to produce carbon molecular sieves using the Taguchi method, targeted at achieving maximum CO2 adsorption capacity and an increased product yield. The carbon molecular sieves were characterized by N2 adsorption, CO2 adsorption, elemental analysis, SEM and FTIR. The CO2 adsorption capacities were measured at 1 bar/273 K. The optimized carbon molecular sieve with the highest product yield of 91 wt.% had amaximum CO2 adsorption of 2.6228 mmol g-1. Both nitrogen and oxygen surface functional groups and the narrow micropores are crucial for CO2 adsorption. The Taguchi method is a powerful tool to simultaneously optimize the carbon dioxide adsorption capacity and the yield of carbon molecular sieves.