Mesoporous magnesium oxide adsorbent prepared via lime (Citrus aurantifolia) peel bio-templating for CO2 capture

• Main Authors: Ruhaimiscopus, A. H., Teh, C. C., Ab. Aziz, Muhammad Arif
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Diponegoro University 2021
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/97951/1/MuhammadArif2021_MesoporousMagnesiumOxideAdsorbentPrepared.pdf; http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/97951/; http://dx.doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.16.2.10505.366-373

The utilization of the lime (Citrus aurantifolia) peel as a template can improve the adsorbent’s structural properties, which consequently affect its CO2 uptake capacity. Herein, a mesoporous magnesium oxide (MgO-lime (Citrus aurantifolia) peel template (LPT)) adsorbent was synthesized using an LPT. MgO-LPT demonstrated improved structural properties and excellent CO2 uptake capacity. Moreover, another MgO adsorbent was prepared via thermal decomposition (MgO-TD) for comparison. The prepared adsorbents were characterized by N2 physisorption, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The CO2 uptake of these adsorbents was under 100% CO2 gas and ambient temperature and pressure conditions. MgO-LPT exhibited a higher Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area, Barrett–Joyner–Halenda pore volume, and pore diameter of 23 m2.g-1, 0.142 cm3.g-1, and 24.6 nm, respectively, than those of MgO-TD, which indicated the mesoporous structure of MgO-LPT. The CO2 uptake capacity of MgO-LPT is 3.79 mmol CO2.g-1, which is 15 times that of MgO-TD. This study shows that the application of lime peel as a template for the synthesis of MgO adsorbents is a promising approach to achieve MgO adsorbents with enhanced surface area and thus increased CO2 capture performance.