One-Step Synthesis of In Situ Sulfur-Doped Porous Carbons for Efficient CO 2 Adsorption

Jiang Guo (), Yun-Peng Ma, Wen-Jun Wu, Xue-Fang Cao and Yu-Ping Fu ()
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Jiang Guo: School of Safety and Emergency Management Engineering, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Yun-Peng Ma: School of Safety and Emergency Management Engineering, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Wen-Jun Wu: State Key Laboratory of Clean and Efficient Coal Utilization, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Xue-Fang Cao: School of Safety and Emergency Management Engineering, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Yu-Ping Fu: School of Safety and Emergency Management Engineering, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: Porous carbons for CO 2 capture were synthesized from a sulfur-rich bituminous coal via a one-step method concurrently including carbonization and KOH activation. The activation parameters were controlled by varying KOH/coal mass ratios (1:1, 2:1, and 3:1) and temperatures (700 °C, 800 °C, and 900 °C) to optimize their CO 2 capture performance. The surface physicochemical structural properties of these porous carbons were characterized by applying a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the S BET of sample SCC-800-3 is as high as 2209 m 2 /g, the CO 2 adsorption capacity of sample SCC-700-2 at normal temperature and pressure reaches 3.46 mmol/g, and the CO 2 /N 2 selectivity of sample SCC-700-1 reaches 24. The synergistic effect of moderate activation conditions ensures optimal pore evolution without compromising sulfur species retention. Furthermore, these porous carbons also demonstrate excellent cycling stability and thermal stability. The fitting of the adsorption isotherm model for all samples were further conducted. Adsorption isotherm modeling demonstrated superior fitting accuracy with the dual-parameter Freundlich and tri-parametric Redlich–Peterson formulations across all samples, indicating that the CO 2 capture by high-sulfur coal-based porous carbons belongs to multilayer adsorption and the carbon surface is heterogeneous. The CO 2 adsorption on porous carbon exhibits spontaneous, exothermic behavior according to the thermodynamic data. These findings confirm the great potential of high-sulfur coal-based porous carbons on the capture of CO 2 . The presenting research provides a strategy that leverages the synergistic effect of in situ sulfur doping and milder activation conditions, achieving the high-efficiency utilization of high-sulfur coal resources and developing low-cost CO 2 capture materials.

Keywords: sulfur-rich coal; porous carbon; CO 2 capture; KOH (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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