Preparation of nitrogen-doped porous carbon by chemical activation of polyaniline nanostructure with ZnCl2

Nitrogen-doped porous carbons (NDCs) were obtained by pyrolyzing nitrogen containing polymer(polyaniline). ZnCl2 high temperature activation was also employed to obtain NDC- ZnCl2 with improvedporous structure.The BET analysis was used to characterize the prepared sorbent. The effect of activationtemperature and impregnation ratio was investigated in the preparation of NDCs. The activation processwas carried out under severe (ZnCl2/PANI =2) or mild (ZnCl2/PANI =1) activation conditions at differenttemperatures in the 500 and 650°C range. The porous carbons with high surface area show high CO2adsorption uptake of 8.6 mmol/g (25° C and 19 bar ) with ZnCl2/PANI = 1 and the activation temperatureof 500° C. These findings prove the suitability of Nitrogen-doped porous carbons for use in swingadsorption systems operating at short time cycles.

Keywords:

CO2 adsorption , polyaniline , Nitrogen-doped porous carbons