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The presence of water vapor complicates the separation and recovery of CO2 from flue gas. Activated carbon is widely regarded as a promising adsorbent for CO2 capture because of its hydrophobicity. However, complete hydrophobicity is impossible, especially at high humidity levels. The effects of water vapor on CO2 capture systems using activated carbon must be further investigated. An adsorption isotherm expression of water vapor on activated carbon named Langmuir + arc-tangent model is presented in this paper, based on which a three-component adsorption equilibrium expression of H2O/CO2/N2 on activated carbon and a complete mathematical model for CO2 adsorption and recovery from wet flue gas by using activated carbon-fixed bed are established. Vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) process for CO2 recovery from wet flue gas under different inlet relative humidity and temperatures are studied, and the role of water vapor on the adsorption and desorption processes of CO2 on activated carbon is revealed. Suggestions that are favorable for CO2 capturing from wet flue gas by using activated carbon under certain conditions are proposed.

Wearable strain sensors with high sensitivity and linear resistance signal response to strain are urgently demanded for human–machine interface, which can be tuned by introducing uneven surface mechanics distribution onto fiber surfaces via structural heterogeneity for fibrous elastomer fiber mat sensors. Yet it is still of great challenge to build micro- or nano-scale heterogeneous structures on fiber surfaces in a facile and scalable way without using templates. Herein, we report a plastic nanosphere-decorated elastomer fiber mat strain sensor with a zoned surface strain energy release characteristic, designed based on analysis of material match and structural mechanics. Surface mechanics analysis confirms that the as-designed sensor shows a controllable strain energy release area, significantly improving sensing stability thanks to effective restriction of micro-crack propagation in conductive pathways. In particular, fibrous mat sensor with high-density nanospheres shows very low fluctuation in strain sensitivity variation (±0.05 for strain ≤ 30 %), i.e., good linearity in the resistance response to strain, while that for the control sensor is ± 10.0 for strain ≤ 16 %. Such a fiber mat strain sensor can not only be applied for real-time sensing of object deformations for human–machine interface and intelligent control, but also in hydrophobic porous elastomeric packaging materials and triboelectric devices.