Basic characterization and carbon capture study of an indigenous activated carbon

Abstract

Abstract The current research article deals with the fundamental characterization and carbon capture study of an indigenous activated carbon (AC) named MODISORB PL 4, derived from bituminous coal. Physical characterization to study the porous properties is carried out using N2 adsorption/desorption at 77 K on a 3 Flex Micromeritics Setup. The activated carbon sample has a BET surface area of 1213.016 m2/g, a pore volume of 0.285 cm3/g, and a pore size of 33.44 Å. The structural analysis carried out by powder XRD confirms the presence of graphite lattice in the adsorbent AC. The surface morphology is studied by FE-SEM analysis, which revealed that adsorbent activated carbon is microporous. The CO2 adsorption study is carried out for a relative pressure range of 0 to 1 and temperature varying from 298-333 K. The experimental data confirm the exothermic and physisorption behavior of the process. Isotherm models; Toth and Sips are fitted with the experimental CO2 adsorption data, in which both resulted in a good fit for the temperature and pressure range taken. The corresponding isotherm constants are illustrated in the article. Further, a comparison study is carried out with the existing literature to compare the CO2 uptake at ambient conditions, revealing that the assorted AC sample has immense potential for gas sorption, energy storage and carbon capture.