CO₂ capture in the sustainable wheat-derived activated microporous carbon compartments

Microporous carbon compartments (MCCs) were developed via controlled carbonization of wheat flour producing large cavities that allow CO₂ gas molecules to access micropores and adsorb effectively. KOH activation of MCCs was conducted at 700 °C with varying mass ratios of KOH/C ranging from 1 to 5, and the effects of activation conditions on the prepared carbon materials in terms of the characteristics and behavior of CO₂ adsorption were investigated. Textural properties, such as specific surface area and total pore volume, linearly increased with the KOH/C ratio, attributed to the development of pores and enlargement of pores within carbon. The highest CO₂ adsorption capacities of 5.70 mol kg^-1 at 0 °C and 3.48 mol kg^-1 at 25 °C were obtained for MCC activated with a KOH/C ratio of 3 (MCC-K3). In addition, CO₂ adsorption uptake was significantly dependent on the volume of narrow micropores with a pore size of less than 0.8 nm rather than the volume of larger pores or surface area. MCC-K3 also exhibited excellent cyclic stability, facile regeneration, and rapid adsorption kinetics. As compared to the pseudo-first-order model, the pseudo-second-order kinetic model described the experimental adsorption data methodically.