A role of steam activation on CO2 capture and separation of narrow microporous carbons produced from cellulose fibers

Ultra-microporous carbons were prepared from CF (cellulose fibers) by physical activation at various temperatures. Physical activation using steam was observed to have an influence on the development of new pores and the expansion of pore sizes and to be effective in developing optimal micropores for CO2 adsorption on the carbon surface. On optimizing the preparation conditions, the synthesized materials exhibited a high CO2 adsorption capacity of 3.776 mmol g−1 at 298 K and 1 bar, as well as an impressive CO2/N2 selectivity of 47.1. The prepared samples show excellent regeneration property throughout 10 adsorption–desorption cycles. These results demonstrate the successful fabrication of porous carbons with enhanced CO2 adsorption capacities and CO2/N2 separation abilities without chemical activation.