Highly porous carbon derived from hydrothermal-pyrolysis synergistic carbonization of biomass for enhanced CO2 capture

Highly porous carbon adsorbent is much desired to diminish greenhouse effect caused by CO 2 emission and benefit for subsequent carbon cycle . Herein, a low-cost and environment-friendly carbonization strategy was reported for preparation of highly porous carbon derived from biomass. Such carbonization is a synergistic process with hydrothermal treatment coupled with a subsequent pyrolysis using sugarcane as biomass. The obtained hydrothermal-pyrolysis derived porous carbon (HPC) has a BET surface area of 938 m 2 /g, which is much higher than that of carbon produced through direct pyrolysis (PC, 528 m 2 /g). During the hydrothermal carbonization pretreatment, highly thermostable aromatic skeletons are formed and converted to carbon skeletons in the post-pyrolysis process, leading to formation of highly stable micropores and higher surface area. Further, HPC shows remarkable adsorption ability of CO 2 (2.8 mmol/g, 25 °C, 1 bar), higher than that of PC (2.1 mmol/g). In addition, the HPC exhibits high CO 2 /N 2 adsorption selectivity and recyclability, demonstrating its potential application in CO 2 capture. This work not only gives new light for tailoring carbon materials with highly porous structure but also provides novel adsorbent for CO 2 adsorption.