High yield and high packing density porous carbon for unprecedented CO2 capture from the first attempt at activation of air-carbonized biomass

Haffner-Staton, Ephraim; Balahmar, Norah; Mokaya, Robert

Abstract

The first attempt at activation of air-carbonized carbon reveals unusual resistance to activation and unprecedentedly high yields (32–80 wt%) of high packing density (0.7–1.14 g cm−3) microporous carbon dominated by 5.5–7 Å pores, which are just right for CO2 uptake (up to 5.0 mmol g−1) at 1 bar and 25 °C. The high gravimetric uptake and packing density offer exceptional volumetric storage, and unprecedented performance for low pressure swing adsorption (PSA) with working capacity of 6–9 mmol g−1 for a pure CO2 stream (6 to 1 bar) and 3–4 mmol g−1 for flue gas (1.2 to 0.2 bar). The working capacity for vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) is attractive at 5.0–5.4 mmol g−1 under pure CO2 (1.5 to 0.05 bar), and 1.8–2.2 mmol g−1 for flue gas (0.3 to 0.01 bar). The pure CO2 volumetric working capacity breaks new ground at 246–309 g l−1 (PSA) and 179–233 g l−1 (VSA). For flue gas conditions, the working capacity is 120 to 160 g l−1 (PSA). The performance of the activated air-carbonized carbons is higher than the best carbons and benchmark zeolites or MOFs.

Citation

Haffner-Staton, E., Balahmar, N., & Mokaya, R. (2016). High yield and high packing density porous carbon for unprecedented CO2 capture from the first attempt at activation of air-carbonized biomass. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 4(34), 13324-13335. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6TA06407H

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 2, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Aug 4, 2016
• Publication Date: Sep 14, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jul 3, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 3, 2017
• Journal: Journal of Materials Chemistry A
• Print ISSN: 2050-7488
• Electronic ISSN: 2050-7496
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 34
• Pages: 13324-13335
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C6TA06407H
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/806596
• Publisher URL: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2016/ta/c6ta06407h#!divAbstract