Andreoli, EnricoBarron, Andrew R.2017-01-302017-01-302016Andreoli, Enrico and Barron, Andrew R.. "CO2 Adsorption by para-Nitroaniline Sulfuric Acid-Derived Porous Carbon Foam." <i>Journal of Carbon Research,</i> 2, no. 4 (2016) MDPI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/c2040025.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/93812The expansion product from the sulfuric acid dehydration of para-nitroaniline has been characterized and studied for CO2 adsorption. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization of the foam indicates that both N and S contents (15 and 9 wt%, respectively) are comparable to those separately reported for nitrogen- or sulfur-containing porous carbon materials. The analysis of the XPS signals of C1s, O1s, N1s, and S2p reveals the presence of a large number of functional groups and chemical species. The CO2 adsorption capacity of the foam is 7.9 wt% (1.79 mmol/g) at 24.5 °C and 1 atm in 30 min, while the integral molar heat of adsorption is 113.6 kJ/mol, indicative of the fact that chemical reactions characteristic of amine sorbents are observed for this type of carbon foam. The kinetics of adsorption is of pseudo-first-order with an extrapolated activation energy of 18.3 kJ/mol comparable to that of amine-modified nanocarbons. The richness in functionalities of H2SO4-expanded foams represents a valuable and further pursuable approach to porous carbons alternative to KOH-derived activated carbons.engThis article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licenseJournal articleporous carbonnitrogensulfurCO2nitroanilinesulfuric acidhttp://dx.doi.org/10.3390/c2040025