N- and S-Doped Carbons Derived from Polyacrylonitrile for Gases Separation

Lidia Domínguez-Ramos, Ainoha Prieto-Estalrich, Giulio Malucelli, Diego Gómez-Díaz, María Sonia Freire, Massimo Lazzari and Julia González-Álvarez
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Lidia Domínguez-Ramos: Departamento de Ingeniería Química, ETSE, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Rua Lope Gómez de Marzoa s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Ainoha Prieto-Estalrich: Departamento de Ingeniería Química, ETSE, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Rua Lope Gómez de Marzoa s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Giulio Malucelli: Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Viale Teresa Michel 5, 15121 Alessandria, Italy
Diego Gómez-Díaz: Departamento de Ingeniería Química, ETSE, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Rua Lope Gómez de Marzoa s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
María Sonia Freire: Departamento de Ingeniería Química, ETSE, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Rua Lope Gómez de Marzoa s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Massimo Lazzari: Departamento de Química Física, Facultade de Química, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Avenida das Ciencias s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Julia González-Álvarez: Departamento de Ingeniería Química, ETSE, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Rua Lope Gómez de Marzoa s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-19

Abstract: The CO 2 capture using adsorption can reduce the carbon footprint, increasing the sustainability of the process without the production of wastes present in commonly used industrial operations. The present research work analyses the effect of the doping-agents incorporation in carbon materials upon adsorption and separation of gases, specifically for carbon dioxide and nitrogen. The carbons precursor was polyacrylonitrile (PAN), which enabled the incorporation of nitrogen atoms in the structure, whereas sulphur doping was reached using pure sulphur after the carbonisation step. The influence of several variables (such as temperature or pressure) and characteristics of synthesised materials (mainly corresponding to surface characteristics) on carbon dioxide separation has been evaluated. Adsorption isotherms were determined for each gas (CO 2 and N 2 ) at different temperatures and pressures. Different adsorption models were evaluated to fit the experimental data. In general, the Toth isotherm described better the adsorption for both gases. Important parameters such as CO 2 /N 2 selectivity and heat of adsorption were determined using the IAS theory and the experimental isotherms at different temperatures, respectively. Non-activated carbons generated from PAN carbonisation without sulphur addition showed the highest values of selectivity (up to 400) and adsorption heat (up to 40 kJ mol −1 ), mainly at low pressures and at low carbon dioxide uptakes, respectively. Furthermore, thanks to their high adsorption capacity, these carbons can be applied for carbon dioxide separation from mixtures with nitrogen.

Keywords: polyacrylonitrile; doping; carbons; adsorption; carbon dioxide; separation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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