Enhancing CO₂ adsorption of activated carbon via nitrogen doping: Synthesis and characterization

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

• N-doped ultramicroporous activated carbons prepared by KOH thermochemical activation with N-content in range up to 6%at. and surface area up to 2670 m 2 /g. • CO 2 adsorption capacitance depends on N-content and pore volume distribution; high relative volume of micropores is a key factor for high CO 2 adsorption capacitance. • Tuning of synthesis conditions allowed to prepare activated carbon with 5.8 mmol/g CO 2 adsorption capacitance at 273K. This study focuses on the rational design and synthesis of sucrose-derived nitrogen-doped porous carbon (ACN) materials for enhanced CO 2 capture. ACN were synthesized by thermochemical activation of sucrose and characterized by their specific surface area, pore size distribution, XPS analysis, and CO 2 adsorption capacities. The carbons showed excellent specific surface areas, with the best value being 2670.7 m ² g -1 , obtained for ACN (1:1:2). Additionally, depending on the ACN, pore sizes varied between 10 Å and 37 Å. XPS analysis confirmed the successful doping of nitrogen in the carbon, as well as the presence of oxygen in the final material. CO 2 capture analysis demonstrated that ACN (1:2:1) exhibits a superior adsorption capacity with a value of 5.8 mmol g -1 at 273 K and 1200 mbar despite the smallest surface area amongst materials (1431 m ² g -1 ). This study underscores the potential of carbon-based materials for CO 2 capture application, offering insights into the design principles for optimizing adsorption performance.