Synthesis of porous carbons from metal-organic coordination polymers and their adsorption performance for carbon dioxide

A series of porous carbons (PCs) was synthesized from nonporous metal-organic coordination polymers (MOCPs), using in-situ polymerized phenol resin as a carbon precursor. The optimized PC has a BET surface area of 2368m²/g and an equilibrium CO₂ adsorption capacity of 2.9mmol/g at 300K and atmospheric pressure. The porous structure of the PCs can be controlled by the formulations of the carbon precursors and gelation/aging time. Meanwhile, the evaporated Zn from the thermal decomposition of the MOCPs acts as an activation agent during carbonization, which eventually improves the microporosity of the PCs. The CO₂ equilibrium adsorption capacity increases with increasing Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of the PCs.