Synthesis, structure and adsorption properties of bagasse-based carbon molecular sieves

Bagasse-based carbon molecular sieves (BCMS) were synthesized by a two-stage carbonization method, using bagasse as the raw material, and phenol-formaldehyde resin and carboxymethyl cellulose as the binders. The BCMS were characterized by N₂ adsorption, X-ray powder diffraction differential thermal analysis, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and adsorptive de-coloring tests. Results showed that the BCMS had mainly micropores with the size centered at 0.72 nm, a micropore volume of 0.11cm³/g and a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of 269m²/g. XRD showed that apart from the broad peaks at 2θ values of 23^o and 44^o, ascribed to amorphous carbon, there are peaks ascribed to a monoclinic single crystal belonging to C2/c(15) space group, with size of 57.7nm and cell parameters of a=2.0437nm，b=0.3497nm，c=1.0345nm， α=90.000°， β=106.439°， γ=90.000°. The BCMS had developed pores with a hierarchical structure, which afforded them a high adsorption capacity of 1.296g/g for coloring substances in a clear sugarcane liquor.