Sulfur-Enriched Nanoporous Carbon: A Novel Approach to CO2 Adsorption

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO2) intake plays a vital role in sustaining the environmental balance by influencing global carbon dynamics and climatic stability. This work addresses the production of sulfur-doped porous nanocarbons (SDCs) as prospective sorbents for CO2 capture. SDCs were fabricated by utilizing coconut shell as a carbon precursor and potassium persulfate as both a chemical activating agent and a sulfur dopant. The incorporation of sulfur functionalities into carbon matrices creates structural variability and active sites, boosting CO2 absorption capabilities. Sulfur’s peculiar electrical structure allows greater intermolecular interactions with CO2, enhancing adsorption affinities. According to the experimental data, the CO2 uptake was best measured as 3.37 mmol/g at 0 °C and 1 bar and 2.56 mmol/g at 25 °C and 1 bar. The results show that the higher porosity of SDC materials adds to a large amplification in the CO2 uptake capability. The work underlines the delicate interaction between sulfur doping, morphological porosity, and surface reactivity in enhancing the effectiveness of CO2 sequestration. SDC materials hold considerable promise in tackling the present ecological concerns and developing CO2 collection techniques. The suggested single-step synthesis technique described here provides a sustainable and environmentally friendly method for synthesizing SDCs for carbon capture applications.