N-doped Porous Carbon Derived from the Pyrolysis of a Polydopamine-coated Hypercross-linked Polymer for Enhanced CO2 Adsorption.

Porous carbon materials can simultaneously capture and convert carbon dioxide, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and using carbon dioxide as a feedstock for the production of valuable chemicals or fuel. In this work, a series of N-doped porous carbons (PDA@HCP(x:y)-T) was prepared; the CO2 adsorption capacity of the prepared PDA@HCP(x:y)-T was enhanced by coating polydopamine (PDA) on a hypercross-linked polymer (HCP) and then adjusting the mass ratio of PDA to HCP and the carbonization temperature. The results showed that the prepared PDA@HCP(1 : 1)-850 exhibited a high CO2 adsorption capacity due to abundant micropores (0.6762 cm3/g), a high specific surface area (1220.8 m2/g), and moderate surface nitrogen content (2.75 %). Notably, PDA@HCP(1 : 1)-850 exhibited the highest CO2 uptake of 6.46 mmol/g at 0 °C and 101 kPa. Critically, these N-doped porous carbons can also be used as catalysts for the reaction of CO2 with epichlorohydrin to form chloropropylene carbonate, with chloropropylene carbonate yielding up to 64 % and selectivity of the reaction reaching 94 %. As a result, these N-doped porous carbons could serve as potential candidates for CO2 capture and conversion due to their high reactivity, excellent CO2 uptake, and good catalytic performance.