Hierarchical porous activated carbon derived from agro-waste for potential CO 2 capture and efficient dye removal applications

An approach to functionalize the chemical carbonization of a sugarcane pith is reported to utilize the readily available and abundant agro-waste that produces hierarchical porous activated carbon (AC) using a nitrogen activation strategy for CO 2 capture and environmental remediation. The obtained raw carbon (RC) and activated carbon (AC) were characterized for their structural, functional, elemental, morphological, and surface properties. The nitrogen-containing AC production with a surface area of 725 m 2 g −1 and 0.3377 cm 3 g −1 pore volume is achieved. The nitrogen activation strategy for AC enhanced the CO 2 uptake capacity with high CO 2 selectivity over N 2 . The isosteric heat of adsorption (Q st ), 28.79 kJmol −1 , suggests the strong physio-sorption interactions between CO 2 and hierarchical porous AC. Furthermore, the AC adsorbent was found efficient for the fast removal of methyl orange (MO) dye with an equilibrium capacity of ~ 527 mg g −1 . The obtained AC showed appreciable reusability for MO adsorption efficiency. Combining the selective CO 2 uptake with the high and fast dye removal capacity, this low-cost agro-waste-derived hierarchical porous AC has excellent potential for energy and environmental applications. Graphical abstract