Preparation and application of microporous carbons as excellent adsorbents for reversible iodine capture and efficient removal of dye.

Because of the application of treating hazardous wastes such as organic dyes and radioactive iodine, the porous carbon with high adsorption capacity has been a research hotspot. In this work, by the pyrolysis method with KOH activation, the hypercrosslinked polynaphthalenes were used as carbonaceous precursors to prepare porous carbons, which showed high specific surface areas between 943.8 and 2754.5 m2 g−1 with high micropore ratios. Notably, the microporous carbonaceous materials showed an excellent iodine capture capacity of 739 wt% and a high adsorption capacity of malachite green with 1194.8 mg g−1. These porous carbons provided potential applications in environmental remediation as promising adsorbent materials for adsorption of radioactive iodine, and removal of organic pollutants from aqueous solutions. [Display omitted] • Porous carbon was prepared by carbonization the hypercrosslinked polynaphlenes and KOH activation. • The porous carbons show high specific surface area with abundant micropores. • C HPN -3 possessed the highest I 2 adsorption capacity of 739 wt%. • C HPN -3 possessed excellent adsorption capacity of malachite green with 862 mg g−1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]