N‐doped porous carbons for CO2 capture: Rational choice of N‐containing polymer with high phenyl density as precursor

• Published in: AIChE journal 2017-05, Vol.63 (5), p.1648-1658
• Main Authors: Geng, Jian‐Cheng, Xue, Ding‐Ming, Liu, Xiao‐Qin, Shi, Yao‐Qi, Sun, Lin‐Bing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adsorption selectivity; Carbon sequestration; carbonization yield; Chemical engineering; CO2 capture; N‐containing polymer; N‐doped porous carbon; Polymers
• ISSN: 0001-1541; 1547-5905
• DOI: 10.1002/aic.15531

N‐doped porous carbons (NPCs) are highly promising for CO2 capture, but their preparation is severely hindered by two factors, namely, the high cost of N‐containing polymer precursors and the low yield of carbon products. Here we report for the first time the fabrication of NPCs through the rational choice of the polymer NUT‐4, with low cost and high phenyl density, as precursor. For the material NPC‐600 obtained from carbonization at 600°C, the yield is as high as 52.1%. The adsorption capacity of CO2 on NPC‐600 reaches 6.9 mmol/g at 273 K and 1 bar, which is obviously higher than that on the benchmarks, including 13X zeolite (4.1 mmol/g) and activated carbon (2.8 mmol/g), as well as most reported carbon materials. Our results also demonstrate that the present NPCs can be completely regenerated under mild conditions. The abundant microporosity and “CO2‐philic” (N‐doped) sites are responsible for the adsorption performance. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 1648–1658, 2017