Roles of London Dispersive and Polar Components of Nano-Metal-Coated Activated Carbons for Improving Carbon Dioxide Uptake

Adsorption using carbonaceous materials has been considered as the prevailing technology for CO2 capture because it offers advantages such as high adsorption capacity, durability, and economic benefits. Activated carbon (AC) has been widely used as an adsorbent for CO2 capture. We investigated CO2 adsorption behaviors of magnesium oxide-coated AC (MgO-AC) as a function of MgO content. The microstructure and textural properties of MgO-AC were characterized by X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms at 77 K, respectively. The CO2 adsorption behaviors of MgO-AC were evaluated at 298 K and 1 atm. Our experimental results revealed that the presence of MgO plays a key role in increasing the CO2 uptake through the interaction between an acidic adsorbate (e+) and an efficient basic adsorbent (e−).