Facile fabrication of nitrogen doped carbon from filter paper for CO2 adsorption.

The preparation and application of heteroatom doped carbons have attracted lots of attention in the past years. In the current work, a facile synthesis of nitrogen doped carbon with filter paper as the carbon source and urea as the nitrogen source was presented. Filter paper was first impregnated with urea solution, and was then carbonized and activated. The carbons' physical and chemical properties were studied. For the application in CO 2 adsorption, impacts from porous characteristics and nitrogen doping were discussed and differentiated. The results suggested that nitrogen doping was beneficial to the improvement of CO 2 uptake, but suitable porous properties were the most important factors. Nitrogen doping showed more significant effects on enhancing the adsorption heat and selectivity. The research of carbonaceous CO 2 adsorbent should focus on nitrogen doped carbons with high porosity. • Urea loaded filter paper is used as starting material for nitrogen doped carbon. • Effects of nitrogen doping and porous structure on CO 2 adsorption are studied. • CO 2 uptake at 273 K and 1 bar reaches 5.12 mmol/g. • Nitrogen doping has obvious effects on CO 2 adsorption heat and selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]