Facile synthesis of nitrogen-enriched mesoporous carbon for carbon dioxide capture

• Mesoporous carbons (MCs) containing in-frame incorporated nitrogen were synthesized.
• A facile polymerization-induced colloid aggregation (PICA) was used to make the MCs.
• The MCs had high SBET (974 m2/g) with well-developed mesopores.
• The CO2 adsorption capacity of 107 mg/g was achieved at 25 °C/1 bar.

To investigate carbon dioxide adsorption behaviors, we prepared mesoporous carbon (MC) materials that incorporated framework nitrogen functional groups via a facile polymerization-induced colloid aggregation (PICA) procedure, where the nitrogen content varied as a function of carbonization temperature. The prepared MCs had high specific surface areas (e.g., 974 m2/g) with well-developed mesopores. The highest carbon dioxide adsorption capacity of 106 mg/g at 25 °C was achieved with the MCs-800 sample (carbonization temperature of 800 °C). We found that the materials prepared in this study were highly effective for carbon dioxide capture, because the nitrogenous functional groups in the MCs enhanced their affinities for acidic carbon dioxide.