One-Step Synthesis of Microporous Carbon Monoliths Derived from Biomass with High Nitrogen Doping Content for Highly Selective CO2 Capture

The one-step synthesis method of nitrogen doped microporous carbon monoliths derived from biomass with high-efficiency is developed using a novel ammonia (NH 3 )-assisted activation process, where NH 3 serves as both activating agent and nitrogen source. Both pore forming and nitrogen doping simultaneously proceed during the process, obviously superior to conventional chemical activation. The as-prepared nitrogen-doped active carbons exhibit rich micropores with high surface area and high nitrogen content. Synergetic effects of its high surface area, microporous structure and high nitrogen content, especially rich nitrogen-containing groups for effective CO 2 capture (i.e., phenyl amine and pyridine-nitrogen) lead to superior CO 2 /N 2 selectivity up to 82, which is the highest among known nanoporous carbons. In addition, the resulting nitrogen-doped active carbons can be easily regenerated under mild conditions. Considering the outstanding CO 2 capture performance, low production cost, simple synthesis procedure and easy scalability, the resulting nitrogen-doped microporous carbon monoliths are promising candidates for selective capture of CO 2 in industrial applications.