Synthesis of hierarchical porous carbon from waste Camellia oleifera shell with high carbon dioxide adsorption capacity

A porous carbon material with hierarchical micropore-mesopore structure was prepared from waste Camellia oleifera shell by a simple ZnCl2 chemical activation technique. The surface morphology and textural properties of prepared carbon materials were characterised by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and N-2 adsorption/desorption measurement. The carbon product exhibits high specific surface area and pore volume of 2,933 m(2)/g and 1.59 cm(3)/g, respectively, which are the highest values among carbon materials prepared from various biomass materials reported to date. This carbon material exhibited a CO2 uptake of 134 mg/g at 25 degrees C and 1 atm pressure, which is one of the highest CO2 capture capacities among carbon materials prepared from a variety of biomass materials reported so far under the same experimental conditions. The adsorbent regeneration can be achieved by a facile argon purge and the material showed stable performance in 5 CO2 consecutive adsorption-desorption test cycles.