Superior CO<inf>2</inf> adsorption from waste coffee ground derived carbons

Abstract

© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015. Utilising the hugely abundant waste from spent coffee grounds (CGs), KOH activated highly microporous carbons with surface areas of 2785 m2g-1and micropore volumes of 0.793 cm3g-1were synthesised that are capable of uptake capacities near 3 mmol g-1at 50 °C and 1 bar. Importantly such uptake capacities are achieved though the material's superior microporous character and without doping within the carbon matrix, thereby ensuring facile regeneration with a binding enthalpy of only 26 kJ mol-1and therefore being capable of energy unintensive cycleable adsorption processes. Furthermore, excellent tunability of pore-size is demonstrated from narrow micropores through to narrow mesopores, enabling optimised adsorption over a range of pressures. This journal is