CO2 Adsorption by para-Nitroaniline Sulfuric Acid-Derived Porous Carbon Foam
by
Enrico Andreoli 1,*
and Andrew R. Barron 1,2,3
Enrico Andreoli 1,* and Andrew R. Barron 1,2,3
1
Energy Safety Research Institute, Swansea University Bay Campus, Swansea SA1 8EN, UK
2
Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA
3
Department of Materials Science and Nanoengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Craig E. Banks
C 2016, 2(4), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/c2040025
Received: 25 November 2016 / Revised: 14 December 2016 / Accepted: 16 December 2016 / Published: 21 December 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Materials and Processes for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Utilisation)
The expansion product from the sulfuric acid dehydration of para-nitroaniline has been characterized and studied for CO2 adsorption. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization of the foam indicates that both N and S contents (15 and 9 wt%, respectively) are comparable to those separately reported for nitrogen- or sulfur-containing porous carbon materials. The analysis of the XPS signals of C1s, O1s, N1s, and S2p reveals the presence of a large number of functional groups and chemical species. The CO2 adsorption capacity of the foam is 7.9 wt% (1.79 mmol/g) at 24.5 °C and 1 atm in 30 min, while the integral molar heat of adsorption is 113.6 kJ/mol, indicative of the fact that chemical reactions characteristic of amine sorbents are observed for this type of carbon foam. The kinetics of adsorption is of pseudo-first-order with an extrapolated activation energy of 18.3 kJ/mol comparable to that of amine-modified nanocarbons. The richness in functionalities of H2SO4-expanded foams represents a valuable and further pursuable approach to porous carbons alternative to KOH-derived activated carbons.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
porous carbon; nitrogen; sulfur; CO2; nitroaniline; sulfuric acid
▼
Show Figures
Graphical abstract
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Andreoli, E.; Barron, A.R. CO2 Adsorption by para-Nitroaniline Sulfuric Acid-Derived Porous Carbon Foam. C 2016, 2, 25.
Show more citation formats
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
- Supplementary File 1:
PDF-Document (PDF, 193 KB)
