N-rich chitosan-derived porous carbon materials for efficient CO2 adsorption and gas separation

Han Min; Ke Zhang; Zhongya Guo; Fengyao Chi; Lili Fu; Bin Li; Xueyi Qiao; Shuang Wang; Shaokui Cao; Bing Wang; Qingxiang Ma

doi:10.3389/fchem.2023.1333475

N-rich chitosan-derived porous carbon materials for efficient CO₂ adsorption and gas separation

Front Chem. 2023 Dec 14:11:1333475. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2023.1333475. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Han Min^{1

2}, Ke Zhang², Zhongya Guo², Fengyao Chi², Lili Fu², Bin Li², Xueyi Qiao², Shuang Wang², Shaokui Cao¹, Bing Wang², Qingxiang Ma³

Affiliations

¹ Henan Key Laboratory of Advanced Nylon Materials and Application, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
² Zhengzhou Tobacco Research Institute of CNTC, Zhengzhou, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of High-efficiency Utilization of Coal and Green Chemical Engineering, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, China.

Abstract

Capturing and separating carbon dioxide, particularly using porous carbon adsorption separation technology, has received considerable research attention due to its advantages such as low cost and ease of regeneration. In this study, we successfully developed a one-step carbonization activation method using freeze-thaw pre-mix treatment to prepare high-nitrogen-content microporous nitrogen-doped carbon materials. These materials hold promise for capturing and separating CO₂ from complex gas mixtures, such as biogas. The nitrogen content of the prepared carbon adsorbents reaches as high as 13.08 wt%, and they exhibit excellent CO₂ adsorption performance under standard conditions (1 bar, 273 K/298 K), achieving 6.97 mmol/g and 3.77 mmol/g, respectively. Furthermore, according to Ideal Adsorption Solution Theory (IAST) analysis, these materials demonstrate material selectivity for CO₂/CH₄ (10 v:90 v) and CO₂/CH₄ (50 v:50 v) of 33.3 and 21.8, respectively, at 1 bar and 298 K. This study provides a promising CO₂ adsorption and separation adsorbent that can be used in the efficient purification process for carbon dioxide, potentially reducing greenhouse gas emissions in industrial and energy production, thus offering robust support for addressing climate change and achieving more environmentally friendly energy production and carbon capture goals.

Keywords: CO2 adsorption; biomass; chitosan; gas adsorption and separation; nitrogen-doped porous carbon.

Grants and funding

The authors declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The authors would like to acknowledge the Opening Foundation of State Key Laboratory of High-efficiency Utilization of Coal and Green Chemical Engineering (Grant No. 2021-K68).