Structure Manipulation of Carbon Aerogels by Managing Solution Concentration of Precursor and Its Application for CO2 Capture

• Main Authors: Pingping He, Xingchi Qian, Zhaoyang Fei, Qing Liu, Zhuxiu Zhang, Xian Chen, Jihai Tang, Mifen Cui, Xu Qiao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-04-01
• Series: Processes
• Subjects: carbon aerogels; concentration; structure manipulation; CO2 capture
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/6/4/35

A series of carbon aerogels were synthesized by polycondensation of resorcinol and formaldehyde, and their structure was adjusted by managing solution concentration of precursors. Carbon aerogels were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), N2 adsorption/desorption and scanning electron microscope (SEM) technologies. It was found that the pore structure and morphology of carbon aerogels can be efficiently manipulated by managing solution concentration. The relative micropore volume of carbon aerogels, defined by Vmicro/Vtol, first increased and then decreased with the increase of solution concentration, leading to the same trend of CO2 adsorption capacity. Specifically, the CA-45 (the solution concentration of precursors is 45 wt%) sample had the highest CO2 adsorption capacity (83.71 cm3/g) and the highest selectivity of CO2/N2 (53) at 1 bar and 0 °C.