Coconut shell-based microporous carbons for CO2 capture

•CO2 activation of pre-carbonized coconut shells affords highly microporous carbons.•These carbons feature CO2 capacity reaching  mmol/g at 0 °C and 760 mmHg.•Preparation of these carbons is simple and feasible.

Microporous carbons were prepared from coconut shell by one-step activation with CO2. The specific surface area and micropore volume were tuned from 686 to 1327 m2/g and from 0.31 to 0.65 cm3/g, respectively, by varying time of CO2 activation. The maximum adsorption of CO2 on these carbons at 760 mmHg reached the values 3.9 and 5.6 mmol/g at 25 and 0 °C, respectively, which are comparable to the reported values of CO2 adsorption capacity on vegetable origin carbons.

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