Facile synthesis of microporous carbon xerogels for highly selective CO2 adsorption

Microporous carbon xerogels (CXs) were successfully fabricated via a facile one-pot strategy using eutectic salt mixture (KCl and ZnCl 2 ) as dual activator and catalyst. Their pore structures, morphology, and selective CO 2 adsorption behaviors were thoroughly studied by varying the contents of eutectic salt mixture. The presented CXs herein showed excellent CO 2 adsorption selectivities , and the CX-4 with optimum salt concentration (12.9%) exhibited the highest CO 2 adsorption capacity of 4.39 mmol g −1  at 273 K, which was ascribed to their special microscopic pore structure. Compared with the reported carbon materials, the optimum CX-4 exhibits a comparable or superior CO 2 adsorption performance under similar conditions, showing great potential for efficient CO 2 capture and separation from flue gas and natural gas.