Facile access to template-shape-replicated nitrogen-rich mesoporous carbon nanospheres for highly efficient CO2 capture and contaminant removal

Rising atmospheric CO2 levels and water pollution have necessitated new research towards the development of novel CO2 capture materials and innovative methods for waste water treatment. Herein, we demonstrate a facile fabrication strategy to prepare novel template-shape replicated nitrogen-rich mesoporous carbon nanospheres (NMCN) with high surface area, pore volume and ordered pore geometry via in situ co-condensation, surface-confined atom transfer radical polymerization (SC-ATRP) and post-polymerization modification. NMCN exhibited efficient CO2 capture ability (up to 4.93 mmol g-1) at ambient temperature and contaminant removal capability from waste water. This work may open a new direction for the design of novel porous carbon materials for CO2 capture and other emerging applications.