Preparation and Characterization of Nitrogen-Containing Cellular Activated Carbon for CO2 and H2 Adsorption.

New monolithic nitrogen-containing microporous cellular activated carbon was successfully prepared from phenol-urea-formaldehyde (PUF) organic foam for CO2 and H2 adsorption and was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TG), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), elemental analysis (EA), a mechanical testing machine, N2-sorption and H2/CO2 sorption. The carbon yield was approximately 50% for carbonization and the burn off for activation ranged from 40% to 56%, which linearly increased with activation time. The macroporosity corresponded to the connected network of cells with diameters ranging from 100m to 600m, and the pinholes in the cell walls had diameters ranging from 1m to 2m. The micro/mesoporosity is located at the inner surface of the cells. Thus, higher adsorption kinetics than usual from activated carbon are expected. The developed carbon with the highest (1674 m2/g) and highest (0.86cm3/g) contained 1.5% nitrogen, had a CO2 adsorption capacity of 3.53mmol/g at 298K, and had an H2 adsorption capacity of 1.9wt.% at 77K, both at atmospheric pressure (1 bar), which were among the best in activated carbons from physical activation. In the current study, a new monolithic-activated carbon with nitrogen-containing from phenol-ureaformaldehyde (PUF) resin, which is widely used in wood industry is successfully prepared. It was found that the micropores, mesopores and macropores are located in the foams. These cellular-activated carbons are good candidate materials for gas adsorption due to the high surface area and cellular structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]