Significantly increasing porosity of mesoporous carbon by NaNH2 activation for enhanced CO2 adsorption

Sodium amide (NaNH2), a readily available strong base, was investigated as an efficient reagent for chemical activation of mesoporous carbon (MC) in the temperature range of 400–900 °C, aiming to enhance the CO2 adsorption performance. Total surface area and pore volume of the activated MC increase greatly with the activation temperature up to 700 °C and then tend to level off. Small micropores with a diameter