Chemical activation of mesoporous carbon with ultrahigh pore volume for highly supported adsorption of CO2

A novel mesoporous carbon (AMC850) with worm-like mesoporosity, very large BET surface area (2935 m2/g), and ultrahigh pore volume of 3.41 cm3/g was facilely synthesized from etching of the pristine mesoporous carbon (MC850) with sodium amide (NaNH2). The mesoporosity in the synthesized AMC850 was significantly expanded in comparison with pristine mesoporous carbon. The synthesized AMC850acts as an efficient support, could accommodate much more pentaethylenehexamine (PEHA) in comparison with the pristine MC850, giving PEHA@AMC850 composites. The resultant PEHA@AMC850 showed much improved property for the selective capture of CO2 in comparison with AMC850 (2.02 mmol/g vs. 0.73 mmol/g, at 75 °C). Thus, the PEHA@AMC850 composites showed promising application in the selective capture of CO2 from flue gas.