Facile and eco-friendly synthesis of chitosan-based mesoporous carbon for adsorbent

Mesoporous carbon has become a research hot spot due to its excellent properties and broad application prospects. In this study, mesoporous carbon was synthesized simply by carbonizing a composite of chitosan (CS) and nano-barium carbonate, taking advantage of the excellent flocculability of CS. The structure and morphology of chitosan-based mesoporous carbon (CSMC) were characterized using BET, SEM, FT-IR, XRD, XPS and Raman techniques. The results revealed that CSMC possessed a graphitic and diamond-like structure consisting of C (92.8%), O (6.9%) and N (0.3%). The mass ratio of BaCO3/CS played an important role in pore formation, with CSMC5 exhibiting a specific surface area and mesoporous surface area up to 2211 and 1119 m2/g, respectively. The adsorption performance of CSMC was tested with chlorogenic acid (CA) as the adsorption object. The saturated adsorption capacity of CSMC for CA was up to 742.52 mg/g and the adsorption rate was rapid. The adsorption behavior of CA by CSMC conformed to Langmuir isothermal adsorption model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption of CA by CSMC was exothermic and reversible. This study provides a promising approach for the synthesis of chitosan-based mesoporous carbon materials and potential applications in sustainable technologies.