The influence of the synthesis pH on the morphology and adsorption properties of carbon spheres

[Display omitted] •Increase of pH values results in the decrease of noticed carbon spheres’ diameters.•Carbon spheres obtained up to 9.25 pH had high regularity in size and spherical shape with a smooth outer surface. Increased pH above this value resulted in less regular material with the tendency...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied surface science 2023-01, Vol.608, p.155196, Article 155196
Main Authors: Sobczuk, Konrad S., Pełech, Iwona, Narkiewicz, Urszula, Staciwa, Piotr, Sibera, Daniel, Moszyński, Dariusz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activation
Adsorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
Carbon spheres
Potassium hydroxide
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Summary:[Display omitted] •Increase of pH values results in the decrease of noticed carbon spheres’ diameters.•Carbon spheres obtained up to 9.25 pH had high regularity in size and spherical shape with a smooth outer surface. Increased pH above this value resulted in less regular material with the tendency to agglomerate.•The increase of oxygen surface functional groups significantly contributed to the merging of the spheres.•The increase of adsorption capacity for the samples obtained up to pH = 9 was observed, and above this value the decrease of CO2 uptake was noticed.•A considerable development of the ultramicroporosity was noticed together with an increase of pH, reaching maximum for the activated sample obtained at pH = 9.•Pores with size below 0.8 nm were essential for an efficient CO2 adsorption. Microporous spherical carbon materials were obtained from the resorcinol–formaldehyde resin, treated in a solvothermal reactor heated with microwaves, and then subjected to carbonization. The effect of the pH on the changes in the carbon spheres' morphology and the adsorption performance was investigated. In order to improve the adsorption efficiency, carbon spheres were subjected to the activation using potassium hydroxide and their properties were compared to those of the non-activated ones. The adsorption performance of the produced materials was evaluated in detail by examining nitrogen and carbon dioxide adsorption from the gas phase, the morphology – using Scanning Electron Microscopy, and surface chemistry – using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy.
ISSN:0169-4332
1873-5584
DOI:10.1016/j.apsusc.2022.155196