A role of steam activation on CO₂ capture and separation of narrow microporous carbons produced from cellulose fibers

Ultra-microporous carbons were prepared from CF (cellulose fibers) by physical activation at various temperatures. Physical activation using steam was observed to have an influence on the development of new pores and the expansion of pore sizes and to be effective in developing optimal micropores for CO₂ adsorption on the carbon surface. On optimizing the preparation conditions, the synthesized materials exhibited a high CO₂ adsorption capacity of 3.776 mmol g^-1 at 298 K and 1 bar, as well as an impressive CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 47.1. The prepared samples show excellent regeneration property throughout 10 adsorption-desorption cycles. These results demonstrate the successful fabrication of porous carbons with enhanced CO₂ adsorption capacities and CO₂/N₂ separation abilities without chemical activation.