Porous carbon derived from Surfactant/Polybenzoxazine Blends

Carbon dioxide adsorption based on porous materials has emerged as a promising technique to prevent the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere and to capture GHGs before they enter the carbon cycle. In this work, polybenzoxazine (PBZ) was synthesized and carbonized at 1173 K for use as a CO2 capture material and a catalytic support for the hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol. The effect of cationic, anionic, and non-ionic surfactants on the morphology of PBZ-derived carbon was investigated, and it was determined that the type of surfactant had a major impact on the morphology of the PBZ-derived carbon. Moreover, using a higher surfactant concentration led to a larger pore size, pore volume, and specific surface area. The high efficiency of the PBZ-derived carbon for CO2 adsorption was confirmed by CO2-TPD, FT-IR, and SEM. Notably, the carbon modified by the P123 surfactant delivered a high CO2 adsorption capacity of 1.59 mmol g−1, which was 2 times higher than that of unmodified carbon. [Display omitted] •Types of surfactants greatly effect on phyco-chemical properties of PBZ-derived carbons.•Adding CTAB and P123 promote the formation of mesopores and total specific surface areas of modified PBZ carbon.•Using P123 as a surfactant yielded the highest CO2 adsorption capacity compared to that of CTAB and SDS.