The effect of the activating agent on the textural and chemical properties of ultra-microporous carbon materials on CO2 adsorption

This study introduces a simple, solvent-free method for synthesizing nitrogen-doped ultra-microporous carbon materials using sugarcane bagasse as the carbon source and KOH or K₂CO₃ as the activating agent. The effects of different activating agent types on physical and chemical properties were discussed. The KOH-activated BOH material exhibited excellent CO₂ adsorption properties (4.36 mmol/g at 0 °C and 2.96 mmol/g at 25 °C), with a high surface area (787.9 m²/g), ultra-micropore volume (0.27 cm³/g), and nitrogen content (8.02 at%). While the CO₂ uptake of K₂CO₃-activated material (BK) demonstrates lower values of 3.47 mmol/g and 2.23 mmol/g, respectively. The findings suggest that the combination of higher nitrogen content and ultra-micropore volume enhances CO₂ adsorption capacity, demonstrating the potential of KOH-activated carbon materials for efficient CO₂ capture applications.