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Polyacrylonitrile‐Derived Sponge‐Like Micro/Macroporous Carbon for Selective CO 2 Separation
Author(s) -
Guo LiPing,
Hu QingTao,
Zhang Peng,
Li WenCui,
Lu AnHui
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201800631
Subject(s) - polyacrylonitrile , chemical engineering , carbon fibers , pyrolysis , materials science , flue gas , adsorption , oxide , graphene , carbonization , acrylonitrile , microporous material , polymerization , chemistry , nanotechnology , polymer , organic chemistry , composite material , composite number , engineering , copolymer
CO 2 capture under a dynamical flow situation requires adsorbents possessing balanced proportion of macropores as diffusion path and micropores as adsorption reservoir. However, the construction of interconnected micro‐/macropores structure coupled with abundant nitrogen species into one carbon skeleton remains a challenge. Here, we report a new approach to prepare sponge‐like carbon with a well‐developed micro‐/macroporous structure and enriched nitrogen species through aqueous phase polymerization of acrylonitrile in the presence of graphene oxide. The tension stress caused by the uniform thermal shrinkage of polyacrylonitrile during the pyrolysis together with the favorable flexibility of graphene oxide sheets are responsible for the formation of the sponge‐like morphology. The synergistic effect of micro‐/macroporous framework and rich CO 2 ‐philic site enables such carbon to decrease resistance to mass transfer and show high CO 2 dynamic selectivity over N 2 (454) and CH 4 (11), as well as good CO 2 capacity at 298 K under low CO 2 partial pressure (0.17 bar, a typical CO 2 partial pressure in flue gas). The above attributes make this porous carbon a promising candidate for CO 2 capture from flue gas, methane sources and other relevant applications.