Porous activated carbon material derived from sustainable bio-resource of peanut shell for H^sub 2^ and CO^sub 2^ storage applications

Porous activated carbon materials have numerous properties for use in energy storage applications as in adsorbent materials for solid state H2 and CO2 storage. In this work, the synthesis of activated porous carbon material derived from the sustainable source of peanut shell (Arachis hypogaea) is described by carbonization and activation processes using KOH as activating agent. The peanut shell derived porous activated carbon material denoted as (PDPAC), shows spherical and sheet like morphology with specific surface area of 1726 m²/g. Interestingly, this peanut derived porous activated carbon material exhibit hydrogen storage capacity of ~1.2 wt% at 298 K and 100 bar pressure. However, the CO2 storage capacity of 3.5 mmol CO2 g-1 at 298 K and 1.0 bar pressure is achieved. Furthermore, this paper presents the state-of-the-art on the synthesis of activated porous carbon materials with maximization of porosity, the use of cheap biomass waste derived precursors and tailoring of their textural properties.