Promising activated carbons derived from common oak leaves and their application in CO2 storage

A novel biomass-based carbon material was successfully prepared from Common Oak leaves by KOH chemical activation in combination with heat treatment (600–900 °C) for CO2 capture.The textural and surface characteristics of the prepared activated carbons were analyzed with N2 adsorption isotherms, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and elemental analysis by X-Ray Fluorescence.The results show that the prepared activated carbon possesses a high surface area from 1180 to 1821 m2/g and, a large micropore volume from 0.56 to 0.91 cm3/g. The adsorption behavior of CO2 onto all activated carbon samples was experimentally evaluated by a volumetric method at two different adsorption temperatures of 0 and 25 °C under atmospheric pressure (1 bar). High CO2 uptakes of 6.17 mmol/g and 5.44 mmol/g at 0 and 25 °C were achieved for the sample COL-700 due to its well-developed micropore structure. The sample COL-700 also shows a good selectivity for CO2/N2 and fast adsorption kinetics that be easily regenerated with superior cyclic stability after multiple cycles. These results suggest that the obtained biomass-based activated carbon is promising for CO2 capture. [Display omitted] •AC were synthesized from Common Oak leaves successfully.•Chemical activation strongly stimulates the microporous structure in the AC.•AC COL-700 had the highest CO2 capture capacity at 0 °C and 25 °C were 6.17 mmol/g and 5.44 mmol/g, respectively.•Narrow micropores can significantly and effectively increase the CO2 adsorption capacity.•COL-700 sorbent had highly stable after 30 consecutive adsorption-desorption cycles.