Facile and Sustainable Arc Plasma-Assisted Synthesis of Mesoporous Carbon: Characterization and Application as a CO2 Adsorbent

Increasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have an impact on rising temperatures and climate change. CO2 separation through the adsorption process is an attractive option due to its low energy consumption and installation costs. Activated carbon was chosen as the adsorbent because it has a better CO2 adsorption capacity at atmospheric pressure and high temperature. Tea twigs can be used as a raw material for activated carbon because of their high carbon content (53%). This research was conducted to produce activated carbon through carbonization at 400°C for 1 h using a flow of N2, followed by physical activation using arc plasma, which can generate high heat in a short time compared to electric furnace. Activation temperature variations from 600°C to 800°C were applied in this study to observe their effects on the characteristics of the activated carbon produced. Characterization analysis, including surface area, functional group formation, and crystal structure and size, was conducted using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses, respectively. Morphological changes in the activated carbon from plasma activation were analyzed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The performance of the activated carbon in adsorbing CO2 was measured using Temperature-Programed Desorption of CO2 (TPD-CO2 at a temperature of 40°C and a pressure of 1 atm. The optimum surface area obtained in this study was 86.668 m² g-1 with an adsorption capacity of 2.057 mmol g-1, which was achieved using Arc Plasma at a physical activation temperature of 700°C with an activation time of 4 min.

Activated carbon; Adsorption; Arc plasma; Carbon dioxide; Tea twigs

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