Herein, we investigated novel carbon-containing P123 copolymer-activated boron nitride whiskers (P123-CBNW) fabricated via a structure directing approach followed by a single-step heat treatment under N2. The resulting materials were found to be highly micro- and mesoporous. The influence of the activating agent (P123 copolymer) on the CO2 adsorption efficiency was determined. The prepared samples possessed high specific surface areas (594-1732 m2/g) and micropore volumes (0.258-0.672 cm3/g). The maximum CO2 uptakes of the prepared adsorbents were in the range 136-308 mg/g (3.09-7.01 mmol/g) at 273 K and 1 bar and 97-114 mg/g (2.22-4.62 mmol/g) in the following order: CBNW < P123-CBNW3 < P123-CBNW2 < P123-CBNW1 < P123-CBNW0.5. The isosteric heat of adsorption values (∆Qst) were found to be 33.7-43.7 kJ/mol, demonstrating the physisorption nature of the CO2 adsorption. Extensive analysis revealed that the presence of carbon, the high specific surface area, the high microporosity, and the chemical structural defects within the adsorbents are responsible for raising the CO2 adsorption ability and the selectivity over N2 gas. The fabricated adsorbents show excellent regeneration ability after several repeated adsorption cycles, making the prepared adsorbents promising candidates for gas storage applications.
Keywords: CO2 adsorption; gas selectivity; microporous boron nitride carbons; structure directing approach.