Effects of carbonization conditions on the microporous structure and high-pressure methane adsorption behavior of glucose-derived graphene.

A simple, promising, environmentally friendly, and high yield technique to synthesize high specific surface area (SSA) and porous graphene-like materials from glucose precursor through carbonization and controlled chemical iron chloride (FeCl₃) activation was demonstrated. Designing this nanoporous graphene-based adsorbent with high SSA, abundant micropore volume, tunable pore size distribution, and high adsorption capacity, is crucial in order to deal with the demands of large-scale reversible natural gas storage applications. Raman spectroscopy, BET method of analysis, and N₂ adsorption/desorption measurements at 196 °C were adopted to evaluate the structural and textural properties of the resultant glucose derived-graphene (gluGr) samples. The effects of different carbonization conditions, such as the inert environments (argon, helium, and argon) and temperatures (700, 800, 900, and 1,000 °C), have been studied. A glucose-derived graphene carbonized under nitrogen environment at 700 °C (NGr700) with highly interconnected network of micropores and mesopores and large SSA (767 m²/g) exhibited excellent methane (CH₄) storage property with exceptionally high adsorption capacity, superior to other glucose-derived graphene (gluGr) samples. A maximum volumetric capacity up to 42.08 cm³/g was obtained from CH₄ adsorption isotherm at 25 °C and 35 bar. Note that the adsorption performance of the CH₄ is highly associated with the SSA and microporosity of the gluGr samples, especially NGr700 that was successfully synthesized by FeCl₃ activation under N₂ environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]