Investigation of ordered mesoporous carbon potential as low-cost CO2 adsorbent

In this study, an investigation was carried out in order to determine the potential of ordered mesoporous carbon including high ratio sucrose in its composition as a CO2 adsorbent. Structural characterizations of silica and carbon material were determined by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), N2 adsorption/desorption and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. CO2 adsorption capacities of developed adsorbent at various temperatures (25°C, 35°C and 50°C) were determined by using a thermogravimetric analyzer under CO2 flow. The maximum adsorption capacity was obtained as approximately 2.27 mmol g CO2 g-1 adsorbent which was remained almost the same in the desorption process. The first order reaction kinetic model was well fitted with the experimental data. Arrhenius equation was used to calculate activation energy which was obtained as -2.86 kJ mol-1 indicating barrier-less type adsorption. Results showed that ordered mesoporous carbon could be a potential source for an efficient and low-cost adsorbent for CO2 capture.