Soft templating production of porous carbon adsorbents for CO2 and H2S capture.

We report the influence of structural features on the properties of porous carbonaceous materials obtained using soft-templating coupled with hydrothermal carbonisation. Our results demonstrate that using d - glucose with Pluronic P123 results in a more homogeneous particle size distribution of carbon spheres compared with d - fructose. The textural properties of the carbon materials, both surface area and pore volume, have improved when the carbonisation temperature was increased from 550 °C to 900 °C, while the amount of C C bonds was also increased. Physical activation with CO 2 was found to open the pores and thereby improve textural properties, including total pore volume, micropore volume, and surface area. Concomitantly, the CO 2 and H 2 S uptake also underwent significant enhancement, achieving a maximum CO 2 adsorption capacity of 8.37 mmol/g at 0 °C and 1 bar, and ca. 6 mmol/g at room temperature and 1 bar. The same samples showed about 25.7 mmol/g adsorption capacity for H 2 S at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, with approximately 32% process efficiency. Image 1 • Soft templating strategy coupled with hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) resulted in improved porosity. • The highest CO 2 uptake has been obtained after physical activation. • H 2 S adsorption efficiency was boosted after physical activation step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]