Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111

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journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/chemosphere

Review

Activated carbons from biomass-based sources for CO2 capture applications

Nada Abuelnoor a, b, Ahmed AlHajaj a, b, Maryam Khaleel a, b, c, Lourdes F. Vega a, b, c,
Mohammad R.M. Abu-Zahra a, b, *
a
Department of Chemical Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
b
Research and Innovation Center on CO2 and H2 (RICH Center), Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
c
Center for Catalysis and Separation (CeCaS), Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Handling Editor: Dr Y Yeomin Yoon In an ever-growing attempt to reduce the excessive anthropogenic CO2 emissions, several CO2 capture tech­
nologies have been developed in recent years. Adsorption using solid carbonaceous materials is one of the many
Keywords: promising examples of these technologies. Carbon-based materials, notably activated carbons, are considered
Activated carbons very attractive adsorbents for this purpose given their exceptional thermal stability and excellent adsorption
Adsorption
capacities. More importantly, the ability to obtain activated carbons from agricultural wastes and other biomass
CO2 capture
that are readily available makes them good candidates for several industrial applications ranging from waste­
Biomass
water treatment to CO2 adsorption, among others. Activated carbons from biomass can be prepared using various
techniques, resulting in a range of textual properties. They can also be functionalized by adding nitrogen-based
groups to their structure that facilitates faster and more efficient CO2 capture. This review provides a detailed
overview of the recent work reported in this field, highlighting the different preparation methods and their
differences and effects on the textual properties such as pore size, surface area, and adsorption performance in
terms of the CO2 adsorption capacity and isosteric heats. The prospect of activated carbon functionalization and
its effect on CO2 capture performance is also included. Finally, the review covers some of the pilot-plant scale
processes in which these materials have been tested. Some identified gaps in the field have been highlighted,
leading to the perspectives for future work.

1. Introduction
The continued increase of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2)
continues to be one of the most pressing concerns in modern times.
Reducing these emissions to prevent global warming and climate change
has been a major challenge (Azmi and Aziz, 2019). The concentration of
CO2 in 2015 was reported to exceed 400 ppm for the first time in modern
history (Belmabkhout et al., 2016), and it keeps growing since then. In
compliance with the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, consid­
erable efforts are put in place to combat global warming by reducing the
excessive anthropogenic CO2 emissions, with most countries seeking
methods to reduce their carbon footprint and find new clean and sus­
tainable energy alternatives. While renewable energy sources such as
solar, wind, and tidal with energy storage are becoming more
economically attractive and reliable, they are still unable to meet the
enormous increasing global energy demand (Huang et al., 2015). Hence,
as fossil fuel burning remains the primary source of energy worldwide,
most research and development efforts aim to make their emissions
clean by capturing the effluent CO2.
CO2 capture involves the separation of carbon dioxide from the
released effluent gas during the combustion of fossil fuels in power
plants. Scientists have developed CO2 Capture and Sequestration (CCS)
technologies to reduce emissions. The most commonly used method for
CO2 capture at industrial scale is absorption, which is considered the
state of the art CO2 capture technology (Lee and Park, 2015). An
amine-based solvent such as monoethanolamine (MEA) and other
amines absorb the CO2 in the flue gas through a series of acid-base re­
actions in the absorber column at 40OC and regenerate the solvent in a
regeneration column at 120 ◦ C. (Rashidi and Yusup, 2016). MEA is the
most commonly used solvent since it is relatively cheap, readily avail­
able, has low density and viscosity, and fast reaction kinetics with CO2.
However, its drawback is that its loading capacity is limited to its

* Corresponding author. , Research and Innovation Center on CO2 and H2 (RICH Center), Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab
Emirates.
E-mail address: mohammad.abuzahra@ku.ac.ae (M.R.M. Abu-Zahra).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131111
Received 31 March 2021; Received in revised form 30 May 2021; Accepted 31 May 2021
Available online 5 June 2021
0045-6535/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
N. Abuelnoor et al.
chemical stoichiometry and that the process of removing CO2 demands
high energy, also due to the presence of water in the system (Ustadi
et al., 2017). It is estimated that the energy required for solvent regen­
eration and scrubbing the CO2 can be up to 3.6–4.5 MJ/kg CO2, which
adds up to 80% of the total energy consumption of the entire capture
process (Oh et al., 2016). Another concern is related to the corrosive
nature of using excess amines and the expensive measures needed to
combat it (Lee and Park, 2015; Plaza et al., 2015; Sutar et al., 2012); as
well as degradation in the presence of oxygenated compounds and the
loss of amines by evaporation (Alkhatib et al., 2020; Bahamon et al.,
2020a). Therefore, despite having efficiencies reaching up to 98%,
finding cheaper alternatives has been the goal of much recent work
(Evans, 2011).
Adsorption has been proposed as a potential candidate for CO2
capture applications. The main advantage of adsorption versus absorp­
tion are the low cost (as it is less energy intensive in the desorption
process), less volatile degradation and corrosive properties and the va­
riety of adsorbents that can be used (Bahamon et al., 2020a; Rashidi and
Yusup, 2016). The choice of adsorbents depends on the type and size of
the adsorbate targeted, and the system the adsorbate is in Fig. 1. For CO2
adsorption from flue gas, the desired selection criteria entail high CO2
adsorption capacity, high CO2/N2 selectivity, very low affinity to
moisture and impurities, fast kinetics, regeneration ability, mechanical
and thermal stability for multiple cycles of adsorption-desorption
(Boujibar et al., 2018; Ogungbenro et al., 2018; Rashidi and Yusup,
2016). More importantly, the volume of the micropores (<2 nm) is
essential since their size is better for CO2 adsorption (Ahmed, 2016;
Ogungbenro, 2017).
Different types of sorbents have been explored for their potential for
CO2 capture. The basic types of adsorbents can be classified as carbon
based, inorganic materials or ion exchange resins (Crini et al., 2019).
Many of these solid sorbents have been researched for CO2 adsorption.
Most notably, carbon based adsorbents such as activated carbons (AC)
(Ogungbenro et al., 2020), mineral adsorbents such as Zeolites (Dab­
bawala et al., 2020), metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) (He et al.,
2016), silica (Lin et al., 2019), and polymers such as porous organic
polymers (Yang et al., 2019).
1.1. Activated carbons
Activated carbons (AC) adsorbents are made from carbonaceous
materials with high C % and low ash content. They are amorphous
materials and often have volatile compounds that evaporate upon
thermal pyrolytic processes resulting in pore formations (Ogungbenro
et al., 2018; Rashidi and Yusup, 2016). AC have gained massive atten­
tion in the past decades due to their ability to adsorb organic and
inorganic contaminants in the separation and purification of industrial
processes, most commonly in the chemical, food, and pharmaceutical
industries (Angin, 2014). In 2002, the estimated global AC consumption
Fig. 1. Desirable Criteria for a good CO2 Capture Adsorbent.
2
Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111
was around 750,000 tons, and the projected growth in demand was
4–5% per year (Zhang et al., 2004). A more recent study estimates an
annual increase in the AC demand by 8.1% (Tran et al., 2017). The
global market demand is expected to reach 7.3 billion US dollars by the
end of 2030 (TMR, 2020).
The unique and favorable properties of AC together with their low
cost explain their high demand for many applications. In general,
carbonaceous materials have relatively low costs and lower regeneration
energies than other adsorbents (Manyà et al., 2018). Furthermore, their
textural properties, such as surface area, pore size, volume, and pore size
distribution, can be tailored for the desired application (Girgis and
El-Hendawy, 2002; Idrees et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2004). They have
high thermal and chemical stability and can have surface functional
groups with various oxygen-containing compounds (Ceyhan et al.,
2013a; Serafin et al., 2019a; Tran et al., 2017). Moreover, they have fast
kinetics and high recyclability potential (Serafin et al., 2017), and most
importantly, AC can adsorb molecules both in gaseous and liquid phases
(Hadoun et al., 2013) making them excellent candidates for separation
purposes.
Commercially, AC are manufactured as granular, extruded, or
powdered depending on the applications and the adsorbed material
(Rashidi and Yusup, 2017a). The two most commonly used are granular
activated carbon (GAC) and powdered activated carbon (PAC), and their
typical sizes are shown in Fig. 2. While PAC have better adsorption ki­
netics, higher surface areas, and smaller diffusion distances, they are
harder to integrate into industrial adsorption beds (Elsayed et al., 2014).
Therefore, PAC are mostly used in batch systems followed by filtration
and in liquid phase adsorption (Abdullah et al., 2011; Koumanova and
Allen, 2005). GAC have slower adsorption kinetics than PAC, but due to
their size, they can be incorporated in industrial adsorption columns for
vapor phase separation applications like CO2 capture (Koumanova and
Allen, 2005). Another type of AC, the extruded pellet, is PAC fused
together to have a cylindrical shape and is also used for gas-phase ap­
plications. These can be prepared in different shapes and sizes that
accommodate the specific application they are used for (Elsayed et al.,
2014). Pellets are considered more mechanically stable and provide
lower dust content (Rashidi and Yusup, 2017a).
Commercial AC are typically produced from carbon-containing ma­
terials such as coal, peat, petroleum coke (Choi et al., 2019; Serafin
et al., 2019a). AC from these nonrenewable resources’ production is
divided such that 28% of the AC are from coal, 10% from peat, and the
rest from other sources (Girgis and El-Hendawy, 2002). The main
disadvantage of these materials is that they have expensive reactivation
processes and high regeneration energies that might sometimes lead to
deteriorations of the solid adsorbents after multiple cycles (Gupta et al.,
2011; Rashidi and Yusup, 2017a). In the context of sustainable devel­
opment and circular economy, much research has been done in the
production of AC from renewable, and relatively cheaper products such
as agricultural waste and lignocellulosic materials (Bahamon et al.,
2020b; Ceyhan et al., 2013a; Uçar et al., 2009), other non-conventional
wastes such as plastics (PVC and PET) as well as industrial wastes and
Fig. 2. Types of activated carbons according to their size. Data used to make
this figure was taken from (Rashidi and Yusup, 2017a).
N. Abuelnoor et al.
polymers have been considered for AC production as well (Tran et al.,
2017).
In general, AC can be produced from any organic material that is rich
in carbon and low in organic, volatile strength (David and Kopac, 2014;
Hadoun et al., 2013). Using a suitable lignocellulosic biomass material
can produce highly porous activated carbons with large surface areas.
Agricultural waste is the most commonly used biomass source because
of its high contents of cellulose and lignin percentages. AC produced
from these sources were found to have excellent thermal stability and
were shown to withstand many adsorption cycles (Jain et al., 2016;
Krishnamoorthy et al., 2019; Singh et al., 2018a).
AC prepared from biomass and agricultural wastes have gained much
attention recently due to their huge potential and different production
methods, as well as the range and availability of the materials used.
Being naturally occurring, readily available, renewable, and economi­
cally sustainable makes biomass sources very attractive precursors for
activated carbons (Jain et al., 2016; Singh et al., 2018a), although
obtaining reproducibility may become a challenge as they proceed from
different bio-sources. Their sustainability stems from the fact that the
undesirable agricultural waste is converted into a value-added material
and can be used in other applications, namely adsorption. Therefore,
their production was found by some authors to be more efficient and less
costly than the nonrenewable ones (Köseoʇ;lu and Akmil-Başar, 2015a).
Another indirect environmental advantage is the use of AC in applica­
tions that enhance the environmental pollution problems such as water
treatments, removal of pollutants and CO2 capture (David and Kopac,
2014; Girgis and El-Hendawy, 2002).
While many precursors can be used for biomass derived AC synthesis,
the choice is mainly based on the geographical location, biomass
availability, cost, and the application for which they will be used. In
Malaysia, agricultural biomass sources can exceed 70 million tonnes
annually, with palm oil contributing 94% of the biomass (Abdullah
et al., 2011). This makes palm oil a very suitable and reliable source for
the synthesis of activated carbons. Likewise, the Middle East is consid­
ered the top producer of dates, with the United Arab Emirates contrib­
uting up to 345,119 metric tonnes of that product annually (FAOSTAT,
2018). Therefore, date seeds are considered a good precursor for AC
production (Bahamon et al., 2020b; Theydan and Ahmed, 2012). More
examples of precursors are pomelo Peel (Sun et al., 2016), grape Seeds
(Okman et al., 2014), carrot and pomegranate peels (Serafin et al.,
2017), palm shells (Ello et al., 2013a), almond Shell (Ait Ahsaine et al.,
2018), coconut Shell (Macedo et al., 2008) coffee Grounds (Travis et al.,
2015) olive stones (Plaza et al., 2014) rice husk char (Li et al., 2015a)
fern leaves (Serafin et al., 2017), granular bamboo (Wei et al., 2012) and
date seeds (Ogungbenro et al., 2018) to name a few.
This review paper aims to summarize and discuss all the recent ad­
vances and work that has been done in the field of biomass-based acti­
vated carbons, highlighting all the different preparation methods and
displaying the different performance indicators for AC for CO2 capture.
The review covers the different activation methods and the type of
carbon-based resources that have been studied in the literature and
compares them in terms of performance indicators such as the pore size,
surface area, and the CO2 adsorption capacity. An evaluation of the
commercialization status and potential for biomass-based AC for CO2
capture applications is included as part of the review. Finally, some
future work and recommendations are provided towards the needs for
filling current gaps and further advancements in the field.
2. Activated carbon synthesis and activation methods
Activated carbons from biomass can be prepared using a variety of
different methods and techniques. Most importantly, a carbonization
process must happen to start the process, and it is mandatory in all
techniques. However, the activation process and the agents used can
vary based on the precursor used. The goal is to find an optimum tem­
perature and technique for effective, environmentally friendly, and
3
Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111
economical synthesis of these materials. This section covers the different
methods and techniques used to prepare AC from biomass. The
carbonization process and the detailed mechanism which happens
during pyrolysis will be explained. Following pyrolysis, the two acti­
vation techniques, chemical and physical activation will be showcased,
highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
Furthermore, the potential for other activation techniques and emerging
approaches will be discussed.
2.1. Pyrolysis
The primary step for synthesizing AC requires heating the biomass
material to very high temperatures to start a carbonization process
known as pyrolysis (Kloss et al., 2012). Pyrolysis is defined as the pro­
cess of irreversible thermal degradation of any lignocellulosic matter
through a series of chemical and physical changes at high temperatures
(300–700 ◦ C) in an oxygen-free environment (Bensidhom et al., 2018;
Dicko et al., 2018; Ogungbenro et al., 2018). A typical biomass source
would have about 20–35% hemicellulose, 40–50% cellulose, and
15–35% Lignin (Sekirifa et al., 2013). During a pyrolysis process, a
combination of complex reactions occur, mainly cracking, which results
in the production of volatile gaseous intermediates (Ciuta et al., 2018).
After undergoing pyrolysis, three main products can be obtained, bio­
char, bio-oil, and syngas. The extent of the production of each will
mainly depend on the type of pyrolysis process performed and the rate of
heat supplied.
According to G. Xu et al. there are four types of pyrolysis: slow, fast,
flash pyrolysis, and gasification pyrolysis (Xu et al., 2012). The slow
pyrolysis process, which mainly results in solid biochar production,
depends on using low residence time, usually around 1 min or more, and
a slow heating rate (Dicko et al., 2018; Makkawi et al., 2019). However,
this would mean that more extended activation periods will be required
to open the pores (Danish and Ahmad, 2018). Generally, in a slow py­
rolysis process, the heating temperatures are around 300–800 ◦ C, the
rate between 5 and 7 ◦ C/min, and the holding time is around 1 h (Liu
et al., 2015). In most cases, slow pyrolysis is the most commonly used
technique. Alternatively, the gasification pyrolysis is aimed to produce
gaseous products from the biomass feedstock and minimize the pro­
duction of any solids by operating at very high temperatures
(700–1500 ◦ C) and heating rates (~1000 ◦ C/s) (Dicko et al., 2018).
Other intermediate types, such as the fast and the flash pyrolysis, vary in
the types of products produced and the range of temperatures and
heating rates. However, they will not be suitable for AC production
because the fast pyrolysis was shown to not produce pores with wide
structures. The careful selection of the process parameters such as the
temperature, the heating rate, the nitrogen flow rate, which acts as a
purge stream to facilitate the oxygen-free environment, and the holding
time will significantly impact the end product (Dicko et al., 2018;
Mohamad Nor et al., 2013). Other factors that affect pyrolytic products’
formation are the type of biomass used, their source and quality, their
chemical composition, and pH (Makkawi et al., 2019).
2.1.1. Pyrolysis mechanism
During pyrolysis, the primary reaction occurring is the thermal
degradation of the biomass components and the volatiles’ release.
Typically, the degradation starts around 300 ◦ C. As the temperature
reaches 300 ◦ C and rises, the elimination of non-carbon materials (N, H,
O) occurs, which results in an increase in the concentration of carbon in
the sample and the formation of a carbon-rich material (Dicko et al.,
2018; Mohamad Nor et al., 2013). Such volatiles are released as CO,
CO2, and H2O and result in some mass reduction in the sample (Jiang
et al., 2020). Firstly, the moisture escapes, then low weight volatiles,
light aromatics, and finally, H2 (González-García, 2018). This process of
volatile elimination is also responsible for creating new pores in the
structure (Ogungbenro et al., 2018).
As each biomass has a different composition of hemicellulose,
N. Abuelnoor et al.
cellulose, and lignin, the rate of volatiles evaporation, yield, and mass
loss differ from different sources; however, for all cases, by 600–700 ◦ C,
the porosity of a typical biomass precursor has almost increased enough
to form a carbon skelton structure in most of them (Bensidhom et al.,
2018; Kua et al., 2019; Pietrzak et al., 2014).
To understand the mechanism behind the process in detail, scientists
ran Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and gas sampling with chro­
matographic and mass spectrometry tests (Ciuta et al., 2018). Using
these techniques, it is possible to assess the relationship between the
energy changes and the increase in the temperature with the end
product in each stage. According to P. González-García, a typical slow
biomass pyrolysis process involves four main stages (González-García,
2018). The first stage occurs in the range of 25–150 ◦ C, where the low
moisture components such as water are eliminated. The second stage
occurs between 150 and 400 ◦ C, and it usually corresponds to the
highest weight loss due to the primary carbonization. Studies have
shown that as the temperature rises in the range of 180–270 ◦ C, hemi­
cellulose’s degradation begins, and between 240 and 350 ◦ C, cellulose
starts degrading (Macedo et al., 2008). Between 240 and 400 ◦ C, the C–C
bonds and C–O start breaking, and the release of water, CO, and CO2
molecules is facilitated (Sekirifa et al., 2013). The third stage occurs
around 400–550 ◦ C, where the lignin finally starts to decompose since it
is a highly thermally stable component compared to cellulose and
hemicellulose and is very hard to decompose (Jung et al., 2019).
As the temperature increases above 550 ◦ C, the observed weight loss
is minimal because most of the volatiles are already released. During this
fourth stage, some cellulose and hemicelluloses’ traces still remain, but
the primary component is lignin, which continues to decompose to
900 ◦ C. Between 700 and 900 ◦ C, more volatiles are released from the
decomposition of lignin, which leads to a further increase in the surface
area and the formation of micropores (Danish and Ahmad, 2018;
Sekirifa et al., 2013). Finally, at 1000 ◦ C, the only remaining product is
the carbon residue (González-García, 2018).
The heating rate also plays a significant role in the pyrolysis process
and the resulting products. As pyrolysis’s temperature increases more
than 600 ◦ C, it was observed that the yield of the solid char was reduced,
while the yield of liquid bio-oils and gases increased [9]. Moreover, if
the heating rate and the temperatures are high, the amount of ash in­
creases, and the rate of volatiles evaporating decreases, which might
compromise the quality of the final pyrolytic product (González-García,
2018; Jung et al., 2019). According to Mohamad Nor et al. this problem
can be combatted using lower heating rates in the range of
10–15 ◦ C/min (Mohamad Nor et al., 2013).
2.2. Physical activation
After the initial pyrolysis, the carbon skeleton obtained must un­
dergo an activation process to create activated carbons. Physical Acti­
vation is a technique used for the synthesis of porous activated carbons.
After the biomass precursor is carbonized through a pyrolytic process to
produce the intermediate biochar, the biochar is activated using a
gaseous activator such as CO2 or steam (Ello et al., 2013b). It can be
argued that the process of physical activation has a lower environmental
impact than the chemical activation since it utilizes CO2, H2O, or air as
activating agents as opposed to excess chemical reagents used in the
chemical activation process. However, as opposed to chemical activa­
tion, physical activation requires more energy and operates at high
temperatures for extended periods (González et al., 2013), with the
corresponding impact in the environment, depending on the source of
the energy.
2.2.1. Physical activation approaches
A physical activation process can be achieved through two different
routes, as depicted in Fig. 4. In the direct approach, the biomass material
is subjected to heat treatment under N2 flow until the activation tem­
perature is reached. The gaseous stream is changed to CO2, and the
4
Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111
Fig. 4. Physical activation methods for preparing AC.
activation process happens directly after the pyrolysis process is finished
(Rashidi and Yusup, 2017b). In the two-step approach, the pyrolysis
occurs separately until the biochar is obtained. The material is left to
cool down and be collected. The second step involves heating the bio­
char again under the activating agent’s flow at a specified temperature
and time (González et al., 2013; Plaza et al., 2010).
The direct approach is more economically favorable since it reduces
both the operation time and cost, due to its lower energy requirement. It
has been observed that using the direct approach for physical activation
can lead to the production of activated carbons with good surface area
and porosity (González et al., 2013). However, the approach is not the
only factor that affects pores’ formation on activated carbons but is a
collective of many factors. This can be highlighted in Table 1. Table 1
depicts the types of different biomass precursors that have been physi­
cally activated, together with the reported the approach followed to
achieve it, the activating agent used, the synthesis conditions, and some
key obtained characteristics such as pore volume and surface area.
By taking the coconut shells precursor as an example, it can be seen
that in the works of Ello et al. and Prauchner et al. using the two-step
approach yielded more favorable results than the direct approach.
Both AC materials activated by CO2, the direct approach yielded AC with
BET surface area of 1327 m2/g as opposed to 2276 m2/g that was
yielded using the two-step approach (Ello et al., 2013b; Prauchner et al.,
2016). However, the two-step approach involved heating the samples
from room temperature to 850 ◦ C and 750 ◦ C, while the direct approach
involved heating to 800 ◦ C only once which led to lower energy
consumption.
However, by looking at another study which was done on coconut
shells using the two-step approach but using steam as an activator
(Hidayu and Muda, 2016a), it can be seen that the yielded BET surface
area was 1011 m2/g, which is much lower than the other two studies. In
such a situation, an optimization between the approach and the energy
requirement should be reached.
2.2.2. Physical activating agents
The two most commonly used physical activating agents are carbon
dioxide and steam. Although steam is often used, carbon dioxide is more
preferred because it produces activated carbons with a high surface area
(Plaza et al., 2010). Further data and results based on each activator are
seen in Table 1. In a study by Xin-hui et al., the biomass Jatropha hull
was activated using steam and CO2. The CO2 activation was operated at
N. Abuelnoor et al. Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111

Table 1
Reported results for activated carbons prepared from agricultural biomass using physical activation (Years 2010–2021).
Biomass Used Pyrolysis Residence Activator Activation Activation Method SBET Pore Micropore Average Reference
Temp (◦ C) Time (h) Temp (◦ C) Time (h) (m2/g) volume volume Pore
(cm3/g) (cm3/g) diameter
(nm)

Almond Shell 600 CO2 750 2 Two 1090 0.5 0.42 1.2 Plaza et al.
Step (2010)
Buckwheat 700 30 min CO2 850 80 min Direct 578 0.291 0.261 Pena et al.
Husk (2020)
Buckwheat 700 30 min Steam 850 80 min Direct 997 0.681 0.419 Pena et al.
Husk (2020)
Chrysopogon 700 3 CO2 700 2 Two 634 0.99 2.45 Vinayagam
Zizanioides Step et al. (2020)
Roots
Coconut Shell 300 30 min Steam 800 1 Two 1011 0.45 1.87 Hidayu and
Step Muda (2016b)
Coconut Shell 800 CO2 800 3.5 Direct 1327 0.65 0.55 0.83 Ello et al.
(2013b)
Coconut Shell 850 2 CO2 750 Two 2276 0.81 Prauchner
Step et al. (2016)
Coffee Grounds 600 1 CO2 700 1 Two 593 0.24 0.24 0.8 Plaza et al.
Step (2012)
Coffee Grounds Steam 800 1 Direct 981.12 1.03 4.19 Adan-Mas et al.
(2021)
Date Palm Tree 477 CO2 477 3 Direct 1094 0.4382 1.609 Shoaib and
Al-Swaidan
(2015)
Date Pits 800 1 CO2 971 56 min Two 666 0.41 1.56 Suresh Kumar
Step Reddy et al.
(2012a)
Date Pits 350 Steam 800 Two 188 0.321 Awwad et al.
Step (2013)
Date Pits 600 4 CO2 900 2 Two 490 0.229 0.165 El-Naas et al.
Step (2010)
Date Seeds 800 CO2 900 1 Two 798.38 0.28 Ogungbenro
Step et al. (2018)
Date Seeds 800 2 CO2 900 2 Two 604 0.29 2.25 Sekirifa et al.
Step (2013)
Jatropha Hull 600 1 CO2 950 40 min Two 1207 0.86 2.86 Xin-hui et al.
Step (2011)
Jatropha Hull 600 1 Steam 900 22 min Two 748 0.53 3.5 Xin-hui et al.
Step (2011)
Oak 500 CO2 900 Direct 1126 0.5204 0.4929 Jung and Kim
(2014)
Olive bagasse 500 Steam 900 45 min Two 1106 0.6067 0.4012 Demiral et al.
Step (2011)
Olive Stone 600 1 Steam 750 6 Two 807 0.3 Ghouma et al.
Step (2015)
P.Africana 700 CO2 795 62 min Two 1086 0.47 Garba and
Seeds Step Rahim (2016)
Palm Kernel 300 30 min Steam 800 1 Two 584 0.26 1.809 Hidayu and
Shell Step Muda (2016b)
Palm Kernel 850 CO2 850 1 Direct 367.8 0.2199 2.39 Rashidi and
Shell Yusup (2017b)
Rapeseed Oil 750 CO2 750 3 Direct 1080 0.464 1.9 David and
Cake + Kopac (2014)
Walnut Shell
Rice Husk Char 900 CO2 900 1 Direct 1097 0.34 Li and Xiao
(2019)
Sargassum CO2 900 30 min Direct 1329 Ma et al.
Fusiforme (2020)
Syzygium 700 3 CO2 700 2 Two 744 0.95 1.67 Vinayagam
Cumini Fruit Step et al. (2020)
Shells
Vine Shoots 600 1 CO2 800 1–3 Two 767 0.374 0.245 Manyà et al.
Step (2018)
Willow Chips CO2 800 1 Direct 738.74 0.37 0.22 2 (Jiang et al.,
2020)

a slightly higher activation temperature, 950 ◦ C, as opposed to 900 ◦ C
for steam, and had a higher activation time of 40 min versus 22 min for
steam activation (Xin-hui et al., 2011). The resulting CO2 activated
carbons were reported to have a BET surface area of 1207 m2/g
compared to the steam activated ones, which was only 748 m2/g. This
suggests that it is better to use CO2 as an activating agent for this
particular precursor as it yielded better results than steam.
Moreover, it was observed that each biomass precursor would have
its optimum activation conditions unique to it. This observation was
supported by the work of Hidayu and Muda, where they physically
activated palm kernel shells and coconut shells using steam at 800 ◦ C
and reported a huge difference in the observed BET surface areas (584

5
N. Abuelnoor et al.
m2/g for palm kernel as opposed to 1011 m2/g for coconut shells)
(Hidayu and Muda, 2016b).
Similarly, when comparing the same activation temperature for the
precursor, as shown in the studies of Jung and Kim, where they studied
direct physical activation using CO2 for the Oak precursor. It was seen
that the intermediate pyrolysis temperature and the activation temper­
atures both affect the overall properties of the AC (Jung and Kim, 2014).
When a pyrolysis temperature of 500 ◦ C and an activation temperature
of 900 ◦ C were used, the resulting AC were superior, with a reported
surface area of 1126 m2/g (Jung and Kim, 2014). Pyrolyzing and acti­
vating at 800 ◦ C yielded a lower SBET of 985 m2/g, which proves that for
each material, there is a set of specific activating conditions that must be
optimized in order to have the best performing AC. Out of all the re­
ported data in Table 1. Prauchner et al. has reported activated carbons
with the highest surface area. Using the coconut shell precursor, the
biomass was activated using CO2 in a two-step activation technique at
850 for pyrolysis and 750 ◦ C for activation. It resulted in the highest SA
of 2276 m2/g and a micropore volume of 0.81 cm3/g (Prauchner et al.,
2016).
In our previous work, date seeds were used as the precursor for AC
synthesis using the two-step physical approach (Ogungbenro et al.,
2018). Using CO2 as the activation agent at an activation temperature of
900 ◦ C for 1 h, the resulting activated carbons had a surface area of
798.38 m2/g and a micropore volume of 0.28 cm3/g. When comparing
these AC with other studies that used the same precursor, it is seen that
ours have shown superior properties as well as an excellent adsorption
capacity, which will be discussed in Section 3.1.
2.3. Chemical activation
In the chemical activation process, the starting biomass material is
impregnated with an activating agent that can either be acidic, basic, or
metal salt and then heat treated under inert conditions to form activated
carbons. The chemical acts as a hydrating agent that can influence the
pyrolytic decomposition and prevent tar from forming, which increases
the yield of the activated carbons (Angin, 2014; Hidayu and Muda,
2016b; Ozdemir et al., 2014). Many chemical agents can be used as
activators; however, the most notable ones are KOH, NaOH, K2CO3 as
alkali agents, H3PO4, and H2SO4 acidic agents, and alkali metal salts
agents such as ZnCl2 (Abbas and Ahmed, 2016; Ozdemir et al., 2014).
According to the literature search and the results tabulated in Table 2.
KOH seems to be the most popular reagent over others, such as H3PO4.
The process of chemical activation has many advantages over
physical activation. Most notably, using a chemical activator can dras­
tically reduce the activation temperature and time. In contrast to
physical activation, where the temperature ranges vary between 700
and 1000 ◦ C, using a chemical activator significantly lowers this tem­
perature range to 400–800 ◦ C. Moreover, the introduction of the
chemicals can make it possible to produce activated carbons through a
single-step approach (combined pyrolysis and activation with
condensed heating time). It was also observed that the activated carbons
produced by chemical activation have higher porosity and surface area
than the physically activated (Abbas and Ahmed, 2016; Bouchelta et al.,
2008; Ceyhan et al., 2013b; Hidayu and Muda, 2016b; Ogungbenro
et al., 2018, 2020bib_Ogungbenro_et_al_2018bib_Ogungbenro_et_al_
2020).
As it requires less energy and time compared to physical activation,
chemical activation seems to be the better and more environmentally
friendly option. However, there are also some drawbacks to using this
technique. Notably, the environmental impact the chemicals have, such
as metal hydroxide, which can be toxic or hazardous and hard to recycle
or dispose (Rashidi and Yusup, 2017a). Another significant drawback is
the washing process; removing the activating agent usually requires
excess use of washing agents such as HCl, which will have an environ­
mental impact and will need to be recycled (González et al., 2013).
Furthermore, the process of chemical activation depends on the
6
Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111
degradation or decomposition of biopolymers of raw material. Since the
biomass precursors are of a complicated and heterogeneous nature, the
full extent of each agent’s mechanisms is not wildly understood. The
developed mechanisms will be further discussed in the following
sections.
Generally, there are two different chemical activation methods: a
single-step approach, which is dried mixing, and the two-step approach
known as wet impregnation, both sketched in Fig. 5. The first step in the
wet impregnation process involves dissolving the biomass in a saturated
solution of the activator, agitation until the chemical agent is dissolved,
and then drying the solution to form a cake-like mixture. The second
step is heat treatment through conventional pyrolysis but under milder
temperatures (Rashidi and Yusup, 2016, 2017a). In the single-step dried
mixing procedure, the pulverized solid pellets of the chemical activator
are mixed with the biomass and then directly pyrolyzed (Lladó et al.,
2016). Not only is the dried mixing technique easier to perform, con­
sumes less energy and faster, but it also results in solids with higher
surface areas, as seen in a study by Pietrzak et al. They compared two
different chemical impregnation techniques and it found that in dry
mixing, the surface area was increased from 796 m2/g to 932 m2/g
(Pietrzak et al., 2014)..
Table 2 shows further examples where different types of agricultural
biomass have been chemically activated using different combinations of
activating agents, impregnation ratios, and preparation techniques. The
resulting activated carbons’ corresponding properties are also reported,
such as the SBET, the volume and micropore volume, and the particles’
average diameter. While KOH seemed to be the most commonly used
activator, it was observed that it does not necessarily work best with all
agricultural biomass types.
Moreover, generalization could not be made as to the best technique
or temperature for the activation process since each biomass has a
unique composition and reaction pathway. This can be highlighted in a
study by Hidayu and Muda, where they studied the effect of using the
same activation parameters on two different biomasses (Hidayu and
Muda, 2016a). Coconut shells and Palm kernel shells were activated
using ZnCl2 in a 1:1 ratio at an activation temperature of 550 ◦ C for 1 h.
It was observed that the surface area (SBET) for Palm kernel activated
carbons was 1223 m2/g, which is much higher than that observed for the
coconut shell, 953 m2/g. Similar results were obtained by Sun et al. who
studied the effect of H3PO4 Activation on Arundo Donax and Pomelo
Peel under the same conditions. They found that the Pomelo Peels gave
activated carbons with a high SBET of 1252 m2/g as opposed to Arundo
Donax, which only had a reported SBET of 675 m2/g (Sun et al., 2016).
Köseoglu and Akmil-Basar studied the effect of two different acti­
vators, ZnCl2 and K2CO3, on the orange peel biomass using the wet
impregnation method and impregnation ratio (Köseoʇ;lu and Akmil-­
Başar, 2015b). While the SBET observed were very similar, 1215 m2/g for
ZnCl2 and 1352 m2/g for K2CO3, the activation temperature at which
ZnCl2 activated carbons were synthesized was much lower (500 ◦ C as
opposed to 900 ◦ C). Further examples are reported in the table.
2.3.1. KOH activation
KOH is the most commonly used chemical activator for the synthesis
of activated carbons. It has been confirmed in several studies that KOH,
being a strong base, enhances the formation of pores and yields very
high surface area, which are the main two criteria in assessing the
performance of an adsorbent (Hai et al., 2019; Serafin et al., 2019b;
Singh et al., 2018b). This phenomenon is due to its strong alkalinity. It
reacts with the lignocellulosic biomass during the pyrolytic process in a
series of chemical reactions such as cracking and dehydration dehy­
drogenation, polymerization, and aromatization (Singh et al., 2017a). It
was also seen that changing the impregnation ratio of KOH to the
biomass will always result in different porosity and surface area.
Ding and Liu tested two types of biomass, Sargassum and Enter­
omorpha, to prepare activated carbons using KOH as an activator (Ding
and Liu, 2020). They kept the activation temperature, hold time, mixing
N. Abuelnoor et al. Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111

Table 2
Reported results for activated carbons prepared from agricultural biomass using chemical activation (Years 2010–2021).
Biomass Used Pyrolysis Residence Activator Mixing Impregnation SBET Pore Micropore Average Reference
Temp (◦ C) Time (h) Method ratio (m2/g) volume volume Pore
(cm3/g) (cm3/g) diameter
(nm)

Acorn Shell 600 30 min ZnCl2 Wet 1:1 1289 0.201 2.669 Saka (2012)
Impregnation
Almond Shell 800 3 KOH Wet 5:1 2054 1.19 0.18 Ait Ahsaine et al.
Impregnation (2018)
Apricot Nut 400 90 min H3PO4 Wet 1:1 307.6 0.191 1.957 Marzbali et al.
Shells Impregnation (2016)
Arundo Donax 600 2 KOH Dry Mixing 2:1 1122 0.502 0.5 0.056 Singh et al. (2017a)
Arundo Donax 500 ZnCl2 Dry Mixing 3:1 3298 1.9 2.9 Singh et al. (2017c)
Arundo Donax 450 1 H3PO4 Wet 1:2.5 675 0.312 0.255 1.85 Sun et al. (2016)
Linn Impregnation
Baobab Seed 800 2 KOH Wet 0.3:1 1086 Ndjientcheu Yossa
Hulls Impregnation et al. (2020)
Bee-Collected 800 2 KOH Wet 3:1 1460 0.63 0.53 Choi et al. (2019)
Pollen Impregnation
Bee-Collected 800 2 KOH Wet 1:1 937 0.4 0.38 Choi et al. (2019)
Pollen Impregnation
Black Locust 830 90 min KOH Wet 6:1 2064 0.98 0.87 2.15 Zhang et al. (2016)
Impregnation
Carrot Peels 700 1 KOH Wet 1:1 1379 0.58 0.51 Serafin et al. (2017)
Impregnation
Celtuce Leaves 800 1 KOH Wet 4:1 3404 1.88 Wang et al. (2012)
Impregnation
Cherry Stones 600 20 min NaOH Dry Mixing 2:1 932 0.47 0.42 2.04 Pietrzak et al.
(2014)
Cherry Stones 600 20 min NaOH Wet 2:1 796 0.4 0.36 1.99 Pietrzak et al.
Impregnation (2014)
Coconut Shell 550 1 ZnCl2 Wet 1:1 953 0.43 1.817 Hidayu and Muda
Impregnation (2016a)
Coconut Shell 450 2 H3PO4 Wet 0.54:1 2212 0.73 Prauchner et al.
Impregnation (2016)
Coconut Shell 500 2 ZnCl2 Wet 0.65:1 1978 0.73 Prauchner et al.
Impregnation (2016)
Coffee Grounds 600 1 KOH Dry Mixing 2:1 876 0.4 0.36 1 Plaza et al. (2012)
Coffee Grounds 700 1 KOH Dry Mixing 4:1 2785 1.36 0.793 1.051 Travis et al. (2015)
Cotton Stalk 600 2 H3PO4 Wet 3:1 1342.93 1.448 3.16 Cheng et al. (2021)
Impregnation
Date Pits 700 1 FeCl3 Wet 1.5:1 780.06 0.468 Theydan and
Impregnation Ahmed (2012)
Date Pits 400 58 min H3PO4 Wet 3:1 725 1.26 2.9 Suresh Kumar
Impregnation Reddy et al. (2012b)
Date Seeds 900 4 KOH Wet 1:1.5 1020.85 Hai et al. (2019)
Impregnation
Date Sheets 800 1 KOH Wet 6:1 2844 1.632 0.893 Li et al. (2019)
Impregnation
Date Stems 550 1 H3PO4 Wet 2:1 1455 1.045 0.052 3.04 Hadoun et al.
Impregnation (2013)
Date Stones 2 H3PO4 Wet 826 Bouhamed et al.
Impregnation (2012)
Date Stones K2CO3 Wet 1144 0.656 3.004 Abbas and Ahmed
Impregnation (2016)
Dried Corn 550 90 min KOH Wet 1:1.8 677 0.36 0.2885 Zubrik et al. (2017)
Stalks Impregnation
Elaeagnus ZnCl2 Wet 3:1 697 0.216 0.356 2 Ceyhan et al.
Angustifolia Impregnation (2013a)
Enteromorpha 800 2 KOH Dry Mixing 1:1 60.2 0.16 57.72 Ding and Liu (2020)
Fern Leaves 700 1 KOH Wet 1:1 1593 0.74 0.54 Serafin et al. (2017)
Impregnation
Fox Nutshell 600 1 ZnCl2 Wet 2:1 2869 1.96 1.68 2.73 Kumar and Jena
Impregnation (2015)
Golden Shower 800 4 K2CO3 Wet 1:1 903 0.46 0.24 2.04 Tran et al. (2017)
Powder Impregnation
Grape Seeds 800 1 K2CO3 Wet 0.5:1 1238 0.47 1.7 Okman et al. (2014)
Impregnation
Grape Seeds 800 1 KOH Wet 0.25:1 1222 0.47 1.7 Okman et al. (2014)
Impregnation
Grape Stalk 700 2 ZnCl2 Wet 2:1 1411 0.723 2.049 Ozdemir et al.
Impregnation (2014)
Langsat Empty 500 2 H3PO4 Wet 1:1 1070.36 0.83 3.67 Njoku et al. (2015)
Fruit Bunch Impregnation
Lumpy Bracket 850 1 KOH Wet 1:1 1968 1.144 0.552 Serafin et al.
Impregnation (2019a)
(continued on next page)

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N. Abuelnoor et al. Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111

Table 2 (continued )
Biomass Used Pyrolysis Residence Activator Mixing Impregnation SBET Pore Micropore Average Reference
Temp (◦ C) Time (h) Method ratio (m2/g) volume volume Pore
(cm3/g) (cm3/g) diameter
(nm)

Oleaster Fruit 450 1 ZnCl2 Wet 1.5:1 2021 1.179 0.393 Yagmur et al.
Impregnation (2020)
Olive Seeds 720 1 H3PO4 Wet Agboola et al.
Impregnation (2019)
Olive Stones 380 2.5 H3PO4 Wet 2:1 1194 0.552 2.072 Bohli et al. (2015)
Impregnation
Orange Peel 950 1 K2CO3 Wet 1:1 1352 0.79 0.22 2.3 Köseoʇ;lu and
Impregnation Akmil-Başar
(2015b)
Orange Peel 500 1 ZnCl2 Wet 1:1 1215 0.68 0.13 2.2 Köseoʇ;lu and
Impregnation Akmil-Başar
(2015b)
Palm Kernel 550 1 ZnCl2 Wet 1:1 1223 0.7 2.288 Hidayu and Muda
Shell Impregnation (2016a)
Palm Shells 850 1 KOH Dry Mixing 5:1 1890 0.9 0.82 0.91 Ello et al. (2013a)
Passiflora 500 2 H3PO4 Wet 4:1 1244.62 0.9937 0.0164 4.28 Montalvo Andia
Ligularis Impregnation et al. (2020)
Peanut Shell 730 90 min KOH 2:1 1893 0.79 0.78 Li et al. (2015b)
Char
Pineapple 500 1 ZnCl2 Wet 1:1 914.67 0.56 0.154 2.4 Mahamad et al.
Waste Impregnation (2015)
Pomegranate 700 1 KOH Wet 1:1 585 0.28 0.2 Serafin et al. (2017)
Peels Impregnation
Pomelo Peel 450 1 H3PO4 Wet 1:2.5 1252 1.33 0.3 4.26 Sun et al. (2016)
Impregnation
Rattan 600 1 NaOH Wet 3:1 1135 0.6 0.17 3.55 Islam et al. (2017)
Impregnation
Rice Husk Char 780 1 KOH Wet 3:1 2695 1.14 1.11 Li et al. (2015a)
Impregnation
S. Guttata Shell 400 1 ZnCl2 Wet 1.5:1 498.29 0.232 Rangabhashiyam
Impregnation and Selvaraju
(2015)
Sargassum 800 2 KOH Dry Mixing 1:1 291.8 0.24 30.76 Ding and Liu (2020)
Sour Cherry 700 2 ZnCl2 Wet 3:1 1704 1.566 0.984 2.29 Angin (2014)
Stones Impregnation
Vine Shoots 700 1 KOH Dry Mixing 5:1 1439 0.674 0.493 Manyà et al. (2018)
Vine Shoots 700 1 KOH Wet 2:1 1671 0.67 0.587 Manyà et al. (2018)
Impregnation
Waste Tea 500 2 KOH Wet 1:1 256.45 Rattanaphan et al.
Impregnation (2020)

ratio, and technique the same, and produced activated carbons with
different surface areas (292 m2/g for Sargassum AC and 60.2 m2/g for
Enteromorpha AC). Similarly, Serafin et al. conducted similar studies on
three different biomass types for KOH activation (Pomegranate peels,
carrot peels, and fern leaves (Serafin et al., 2017). Keeping all activation
conditions constant, the best SBET results were obtained for the activated
carbons prepared from fern leaves, 1593 m2/g, as opposed to 585 m2/g
for those from pomegranate peels. In most studies, different impregna­
tion ratios and activation techniques are tested, and the resulting acti­
vated carbons with the best surface area and micropore volumes are
further tested for adsorption experiments (Hai et al., 2019). C. Zhang
et al. conducted a study to relate the pore formation as a function of
temperature and observed that further increase of temperature (higher
than 830 ◦ C) results in more micropore formation (Zhang et al., 2016).
In addition, as the boiling point of potassium is 726 ◦ C, running the
reaction at such high temperatures will result in it evaporating from the
carbon framework, having bigger pores, and reducing the acid washing
time (Zhang et al., 2016). The results reported in Table 2 show the most
optimized activated carbons with the highest performance from each
reported study. For further information on the other activating condi­
tions and impregnation ratios tested and the results found, it is suggested
to visit the original research article cited.
Many scholars have studied the mechanisms of KOH activation re­
actions. While it is very hard to agree on and completely predict all the
reactions, due to each biomass precursor’s complex composition, most
studies agree on the overall redox reaction shown in Eq (1). Moreover,
many studies have proposed pathways for the side reactions that occur
as well. However, an unanimous agreement has not yet been reached
due to the before-mentioned complexity of the biomass.
6KOH + 2C→2K2 CO3 + 2K + 3H2 Eq. 1
Singh et al. proposed the following set of equations to explain KOH
activation’s mechanism (Singh et al., 2017a). They explained that upon
initial heating, the volatiles such as CO, CO2, and H2O, which lead to the
formation of pores. They proposed that the volatiles can also react with KOH
and formed K2CO3, as shown in Eq. (2). Furthermore, as the temperature
increases, KOH gets completely consumed and is converted to Potassium Eq.
(3). Their XRD patterns confirmed this observation. Lastly, the metallic
potassium reacts with the volatiles to form K2O (Eq. (4) & Eq. (5)).
2KOH + CO2 →2K2 CO3 + H2 O Eq. 2
2KOH + 2C→2CO + 2K + H2 Eq. 3
K2 CO3 + C→K2 O + 2CO Eq. 4
K2 O + C→2K + CO Eq. 5
Serafin et al. have given more details when explaining the reaction
mechanism of KOH with the biomass precursor (Serafin et al., 2019b).
They have classified the main reactions during the oxidation of the
carbon in the biomass to form potassium carbonate, hydrogen, metallic
potassium, water, and carbon oxide, as seen in Eqs. (6)–(9).

8
N. Abuelnoor et al. Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111

While this proposed set of reactions explain in detail the mechanism

of KOH activation to produce highly microporous activated carbons
from Lumpy brackets biomass, there is no consensus on them being
accurate for other biomass sources. However, it provides an overall
picture of how the mechanism of chemical KOH activation works. The
final stage after activation is removing metallic potassium and its
compounds through HCl washing (Serafin et al., 2019b; Singh et al.,
2017a).

2.3.2. Zncl2 activation

ZnCl2 is another wildly used activating agent. It is a metal salt that
acts as a strong dehydrating agent that, like KOH, will suppress the
formation of tar, which usually forms and accumulates in the newly
formed pores during the heat treatment process (Ozdemir et al., 2014;
Singh et al., 2017c). While ZnCl2 helps in the dehydration, elimination,
and aromatization of lignocellulosic biomass, it also acts as Lewis acid,
which will not react with carbon, thereby increasing the activated car­
bons yield (Angin, 2014; Köseoʇ;lu and Akmil-Başar, 2015b; Singh et al.,
2017c).
Like KOH, chemical activation using ZnCl2 is widespread and has
been found to yield activated carbons with high surface areas. Using the
less harmful metal salt is easier to handle and requires less washing time
with HCl since the resulting activated carbons are not as basic as with
KOH. It can also be observed in Table 2 That activation using Zncl2 re­
quires lower heating temperatures than KOH samples. As it can be seen,
on average, the best KOH AC were activated at temperatures in the range
of 700 ◦ C–800 ◦ C while those ZnCl2 were activated in the range of
500 ◦ C–600 ◦ C. These two advantages make ZnCl2 more favorable and
more environmentally friendly than KOH.
One of the best results obtained using ZnCl2 was activating Arundo
Donax biomass using the dry mixing technique (Singh et al., 2017c). In
that study, it was found that an impregnation ratio of 3:1 (ZnCl2:
Biomass) and under the low activation temperature of 500 ◦ C, the pro­
duced AC had BET surface area as high as 3298 m2/g. Favorable results
were also obtained using the wet impregnation method, as highlighted
Fig. 5. Chemical activation methods for preparing AC.
in the work of A. Kumar, H. Mohan Jena (Kumar and Jena, 2015). Using
an impregnation ratio of 2:1, and an activation temperature of 600 ◦ C,
4KOH + C→K2 CO3 + H2 O + 2H2 Eq. 6 the resulting AC from Fox nutshell biomass yielded BET surface areas of
2869 m2/g. Other studies and data are reported in Table 2.
6KOH + 2C→2K2 CO3 + 2K + 3H2 Eq. 7 Surveying the literature, no one has proposed a detailed reaction
mechanism to explain the role of ZnCl2 in the chemical activation of
2KOH + C + H2 O →2K2 CO3 + 2H2 Eq. 8
biomass. However, I. Ozdemir et al. conducted an elemental analysis to
see the effect of the impregnation ratio of ZnCl2 on grape stalks acti­
2KOH + 2C→2CO + 2K + H2 Eq. 9
vation (Ozdemir et al., 2014). Their results showed that varying the
Furthermore, they proposed the following set of reactions to explain impregnation ratios resulted in samples with different carbon contents.
what happens between the evolved volatiles (CO2, CO, and H2O) and the When the impregnation ratio increases, the C content was significantly
biomass in Eq. (10)–(12) or with KOH in Eq. (13) and (14). These higher than others, and the H and O content decreased. According to
equations propose that these volatiles are the decomposed functional these results, their best Activated carbon was obtained at a ratio of 2:1
groups and are responsible for the pore formation. Finally, they showed (ZnCl2: Biomass) with a reported BET surface area of 1411 m2/g.
the last stage of reaction where the K2O and K2CO3 are decomposed Eq.
(15)–(17). 2.3.3. Other activating agents
While KOH and ZnCl2 remain the most commonly used chemical
C + H2 O→H2 + CO Eq. 10
activators, other chemicals are also used to synthesize activated carbons
C + H2 O→H2 + CO2 Eq. 11 from biomass, such as H3PO4, FeCl3, and NaOH. H. Hadoun et al. studied
the activation of date stems using H3PO4 in a ratio of 2:1 (H3PO4: date
C + CO2 →2CO Eq. 12 stems) and reported a high BET surface area of 1455 m2/g while oper­
ating under a low activation temperature of 500 ◦ C (Hadoun et al.,
2KOH + CO2 →K2 CO3 + H2 O Eq. 13 2013). Similarly, favorable results were yielded while using K2CO3 with
grape seeds in a study by I. Okman et al. where the obtained surface area
2KOH → K2 O + H2 O Eq. 14 was 1238 m2/g (Okman et al., 2014). S.K. Theydan and M.J. Ahmed
have also investigated using other transition metal salts such as FeCl3
K2 CO3 + 2C→2K + 3CO Eq. 15 (Theydan and Ahmed, 2012). Using date pits as the biomass precursor
and the wet impregnation technique, promising results were seen with a
K2 CO3 + C→K2 O + 2CO Eq. 16 reported BET surface area of 780 m2/g and micropore volume of 0.468
cm3/g. The potential of the basic activator NaOH was also investigated
K2 O + C→2K + CO Eq. 17 by Md. A. Islam et al. (2017). Using rattan seeds as the biomass

9
N. Abuelnoor et al.
precursor and the impregnation ratio of 3:1, the activated mixture was
activated at 600 ◦ C for 1 h. The resulting AC had a high SBET of 1135
m2/g, a micropore volume of 0.17 cm3/g, and an average particle
diameter of 3.55 nm. Other examples of studies are reported in Table 2.
The examples mentioned above and the reported data in Table 2
suggest that many combinations should be attempted to optimize the
process of activated carbon synthesis for each material. Once the best
performing material has been obtained, the materials can be tested for
other performance indicators such as adsorption capacity and heat of
adsorption.
2.4. Other activation techniques
While most studies tend to either follow the chemical or physical
activation methods to produce activated carbons, some have tried other
techniques or hybrids of both. For example, in a study by J.M. Salman
et al. date seeds were used as the biomass precursor and were activated
using both chemical and physical techniques (Salman et al., 2011). They
performed a carbonization step at 700 ◦ C and held at 2 h under the inert
Nitrogen atmosphere; the activation step was done using both KOH and
CO2. The carbonized materials were impregnated in a ratio of 6:1 using
the wet impregnation technique and then activated at 850 ◦ C using CO2.
This method, known as the physiochemical technique, resulted in acti­
vated carbons with SBET of 880.18 m2/g and a pore volume of 0.46
cm3/g.
Similarly, Hameed et al. used KOH and CO2 for physiochemical
Activation of palm dates biomass at the same process conditions and an
impregnation ratio of 3:1 (Hameed et al., 2009). The reported activated
carbons had a SBET of 763.4 m2/g and a total pore volume of 0.424
cm3/g. Hadi et al. combined two activating agents and two carboniza­
tion steps while synthesizing activated carbons from pomegranate husk
(Hadi et al., 2020). The precursor was dissolved in a solution of ZnCl2
using the wet impregnation method, carbonized for 2 h, and washed
with HCl for the first physiochemical activation. The second activation
step used NaOH and carbonization, following the same procedure as the
first activation step. The observed characteristics of the produced AC
were a SBET of 1168.6 m2/g, a pore volume of 0.623 cm3/g, and a
diameter of 1.21 nm.
Another technique for activated carbon synthesis was developed by
G. Singh et al. where they utilized acidic treatment of the biomass before
the chemical activation process (Singh et al., 2018a). The technique
involved acidic polymerization using H2SO4, then a conventional
single-step KOH activation. They argue that acid treatment as a
pre-activation step helps reduce the energy needed in chemical activa­
tion and produces activated carbons with high surface areas. Arundo
Donax biomass was used and was impregnated by KOH in a ratio of 3:1,
and an activation temperature as low as 600 ◦ C. The resulting activated
carbons were reported to have very high SBET of 2232 m2/g, a pore
volume of 1.01 cm3/g, and a pore diameter of 0.82 nm.
3. Activated carbon applications
Activated carbons’ well-developed micro-porosity and large surface
areas make them highly in demand for many industries and applications.
Being readily available, easily prepared, and relatively cheaper has
made AC a potential adsorbent for many industrial processes. Due to
their affinity to the various contaminants in wastewater such as Benta­
zon and Carbofuran and their fast kinetics, activated carbons are used
for these chemicals’ adsorption from the water (Salman et al., 2011;
Zhang et al., 2016). They are also very effective in removing dyes by
adsorbing chemicals like iodine and methyl blue (Angin et al., 2013;
Islam et al., 2017; Mahamad et al., 2015; Suresh Kumar Reddy et al.,
2012a; Wu et al., 2005).
AC adsorbents have been used in the food industry, pharmaceutical
companies, cosmetics, and domestic applications (Girgis and
El-Hendawy, 2002). Furthermore, activated carbons have been used in
10
Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111
various applications, such as wastewater treatments (Cunha et al., 2020;
Kårelid et al., 2017), solvent recovery applications (Wakamatsu and
Iida, 1993), removal of organics (Bagheri and Abedi, 2009), inorganics
(El-Hendawy, 2009; Mohanty et al., 2005; Şencan et al., 2015), pesti­
cides (da Paixão Cansado et al., 2019; Lopes et al., 2020; Wang et al.,
2020), catalysis (HUANG et al., 2009), lead removal applications
(Krishnamoorthy et al., 2019), and even desalination applications to
remove NaCl (Hai et al., 2019).
Most importantly, activated carbons have proven to be suitable ad­
sorbents for air purification, mercury removal, CO2 capture applications
(Ogungbenro et al., 2018; Plaza et al, 2010, 2015; Songolzadeh et al.,
2014). Activated carbons used in CO2 capture applications have yielded
promising results, and that is why much more research is being done in
that area (Li et al., 2015b; Serafin et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2016). This
paper will focus on discussing the CO2 adsorption studies done on
activated carbons synthesized from biomass precursors.
3.1. Activated carbons for CO2 capture
The CO2 adsorption process depends on the thermodynamic property
of the material to attract it to the solid adsorbent by either forming a
physical bond (physisorption) or a chemical bond (chemisorption) (Lee
and Park, 2015). In physisorption, the bonds formed between the solid
sorbent and CO2 are weak van der Waal forces and can form multiple
layers on the adsorbent’s surface (Creamer et al., 2014). In chemisorp­
tion, strong covalent bonds are formed between the solid and CO2,
requiring more energy to be removed but providing better adsorption
capacity. The formation of strong covalent bonds allows for the forma­
tion of one monolayer (Serafin et al., 2019b). Once adsorbed and
removed from the flue gas stream, a desorption step is required to
regenerate the sorbent by desorbing the bonded CO2 (Olajire, 2010).
This process happens either using a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) by
reducing the pressure or temperature swing adsorption (TSA) by
increasing the temperature (Rashidi and Yusup, 2017a). Other methods
can be passing an electric current through the solids in electric swing
adsorption (ESA), washing, or a hybrid of either process.
This review focuses on low pressure CO2 post-capture (PCC) appli­
cations as they are the most commonly tested in the literature. A suitable
adsorbent for post-combustion CO2 capture should have high adsorption
capacity at low CO2 partial pressures, higher selectivity of CO2 over N2,
moderately low heat of adsorption, and fast kinetics (Singh et al.,
2017b).
AC from date seeds were synthesized by Ogungbenro et al. using
physical activation and CO2 as an activating agent (Ogungbenro et al.,
2018). Several AC were prepared using a different range of activation
temperatures and activation times to find the best-optimized material,
obtaining that the optimum pyrolysis temperature was 800 ◦ C with
activation at 900 ◦ C for 1 h. The AC were tested for CO2 adsorption at
room temperature using micro reaction calorimetry, and they showed
superior performance with a maximum loading of 141.14 mg-CO2/g-AC
compared to the commercial activated carbons, which reported a
maximum loading of 96.21 mg-CO2/g-AC. Having shown such great
potential, our team has been working with date seeds for further testing
and functionalization. More reports on the CO2 uptake of the
biomass-derived AC at both 25 ◦ C and 0 ◦ C and the low pressure of 1 bar
is shown in Table 3. The Adsorption heats are also reported as well as the
selectivity of CO2/N2.
Manyà et al. showed that the technique used for synthesizing their
AC (from vine shoots) might not directly impact the CO2 adsorption
capacity. They used KOH as a chemical activator for both the wet
impregnation and the dry mixing method, and they yielded similar
adsorption capacities of 5.4 and 6.08 mmol/g measured at 0 ◦ C (Manyà
et al., 2018).
Furthermore, the effect of the activation has been investigated on the
coffee ground precursor. Plaza et al. used the coffee ground and physi­
cally activated them, yielding SBET of 593 m2/g and adsorption capacity
N. Abuelnoor et al. Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111

Table 3
Reported CO2 capture results for the activated carbons prepared from agricultural biomass under either physical or chemical activation.
Biomass Used Activation Activator Method SBET (m2/ Adsorption Heat of Adsorption Selectivity (CO2/ Reference
Method g) Capacity (kJ/mol) N2)
(mmol/g) at
1 bar

25 ◦ C 0 ◦C

Arundo Donax Chemical KOH Dry Mixing 1122 3.60 6.30 31 – Singh et al. (2017b)
Arundo Donax Chemical KOH Acidic 2232 3.20 4.10 15.4 – Singh et al. (2018a)
Treatment
Bee-Collected Pollen Chemical KOH Wet 937 3.38 5.21 23.8–40.0 – Choi et al. (2019)
(1:1) Impregnation
Bee-Collected Pollen Chemical KOH Wet 1460 3.42 5.63 23.8–40.0 – Choi et al. (2019)
(3:1) Impregnation
Black Locust Chemical KOH Wet 2064 5.05 7.19 25.1–33.6 17.13 Zhang et al. (2016)
Impregnation
Carrot Peels Chemical KOH Wet 1379 4.18 5.64 – – Serafin et al. (2017)
Impregnation
Celtuce Leaves Chemical KOH Wet 3404 4.36 6.04 – – Wang et al. (2012)
Impregnation
Coconut Shell Physical CO2 Direct 1327 3.90 5.60 – – Ello et al. (2013b)
Coffee Grounds Chemical KOH Dry Mixing 876 3.00 4.40 – – Plaza et al. (2012)
Coffee Grounds Chemical KOH Dry Mixing 2785 4.00 6.89 26 – Travis et al. (2015)
Coffee Grounds Physical CO2 593 2.40 3.60 – – Plaza et al. (2012)
Date Seeds Physical CO2 Two Step 798.38 10.8 – 13.15 – Ogungbenro et al.
(2018)
Date Sheets Chemical KOH Wet 2844 3.65 5.60 15.83–17.10 – Li et al. (2019)
Impregnation
Enteromorpha Chemical KOH Dry Mixing 60.2 0.52 – – – Ding and Liu (2020)
Fern Leaves Chemical KOH Wet 1593 4.12 4.52 – – Serafin et al. (2017)
Impregnation
Granular Bamboo Chemical KOH Wet 1846 4.50 7.00 – 8.6 Wei et al. (2012)
Impregnation
Lumpy Bracket Chemical KOH Wet 1968 4.62 7.15 26–32 – Serafin et al. (2019a)
Impregnation
Nutshell Physical CO2 Two Steps 573 3.48 – – 10.6 Bae and Su (2013)
Olive Stones 629 1.98 2.84 30.7 Plaza et al. (2014)
Palm Kernel Shell Physical CO2 Direct 367.8 2.13 – 27–28 – Rashidi and Yusup
(2017c)
Palm Shells Chemical KOH Dry Mixing 1890 4.40 6.30 – – Ello et al. (2013a)
Peanut Shell Char Chemical KOH 1713 4.41 7.25 24–25 7.9 Li et al. (2015b)
Pomegranate Peels Chemical KOH Wet 585 4.11 6.03 – 7.89 Serafin et al. (2017)
Impregnation
Rice Husk Char Chemical KOH Wet 2695 3.71 6.24 – 19.9 Li et al. (2015a)
Impregnation
Rice Husk Char Physical CO2 Direct 1097 3.10 – – 7.6 Li and Xiao (2019)
Sargassum Chemical KOH Dry Mixing 291.8 1.05 – – – Ding and Liu (2020)
Vine Shoots Chemical KOH Dry Mixing 1439 – 6.08 24.5–29.7 14.8 Manyà et al. (2018)
Vine Shoots Chemical KOH Wet 1671 – 5.40 24.5–29.7 5.12 Manyà et al. (2018)
Impregnation
Vine Shoots Physical CO2 Two Step 767 – 4.07 24.5–29.7 – Manyà et al. (2018)

of 3.6 mmol/g at 0 ◦ C and 1 bar (Plaza et al., 2012). Travis et al. used the
dry mixing method of KOH with ground coffee and reported much
higher SBET of 2785 m2/g and adsorption capacity of 6.89 mmol/g at
0 ◦ C and 1 bar (Travis et al., 2015). While the increase in the surface area
was almost five times between both techniques, the adsorption capacity
only doubled, proving that the surface area is one factor that affects
adsorption, but not the only one. This observation was further proven by
looking at the AC produced by Zhang et al. (2016) and Wang et al.
(2012). Both studies used KOH to produce AC using wet impregnation
but different precursors (Black locust and Celtuce leaves). They yielded a
surface area of 2064 m2/g and 3404 m2/g, respectively. However, the
observed adsorption capacity was 5.05 mmol/g for the black locust as
opposed to 4.36 mmol/g at 25 ◦ C and 1 bar, suggesting that other factors
also decide on the adsorption, for example, the chemistry of the initial
precursor used. Moreover, the selectivity for the black locust AC was
17.13, which was the highest observed selectivity factor reported among
all the reported results.
Li and Xiao prepared AC from rice husk using physical activation
technique with CO2 as the activator (Li and Xiao, 2019). Similarly, Li
et al. using the same precursor but prepared the AC using KOH for
chemical activation (Li et al., 2015a). Rice husk AC prepared by
chemical activation achieved a higher SBET of 2695 m2/g, which is
almost double that prepared by physical activation - 1097 m2/g. How­
ever, the adsorption capacity at 1 bar and 0 ◦ C increased from 3.1
mmol/g to 3.71 mmol/g. This study is a perfect example to show that
even though the surface area is larger, the adsorption capacity observed
was not significantly increased, proving that other factors can determine
the adsorption capacity like the selectivity and heats of adsorption.
According to the literature, the typical energies for physisorption are
20–40 kJ/mol, while those for chemisorption are in the range of 80–400
kJ/mol (Serafin et al., 2019b). Looking at all the heats of adsorptions
reported in Table 3, it is seen that they range from 13 to 40 kJ/mol,
which agrees with the literature and shows that all the adsorption in
those AC is physisorption.
3.2. Functionalized activated carbons for CO2 capture
One of the factors that can also influence activated carbons’
adsorption capacity, is the presence of heteroatoms like nitrogen. These
can be acidic, basic, or neutral organic functional groups modified
chemically to form functionalized activated carbons by adding amine
groups (Arenillas et al., 2005). Introducing nitrogen on the surface of AC

11
N. Abuelnoor et al.
will increase the number of basic functional groups, which will better
the selectivity of the acidic CO2 (Lee and Park, 2015).
In the context of this review, functionalization is defined as the
process of adding different functional groups to the activated carbon
skeleton to increase its performance and enhance the CO2 adsorption.
Nitrogen doping is achieved when a few carbon atoms in the carbon-rich
matrix of AC are replaced by nitrogen atoms representing different
functional groups. Having the basic N-based functional groups helps
increase acidic CO2 adsorbed and result in fast adsorption kinetics
(Wang et al., 2018).
Most of the functional groups used are pyridinic, amino, pyridonic/
pyrrolic. They can be observed using the characterization technique XPS
and analyzing the N-1s spectra where their binding energies are 397.7,
399.5, 400.8 eV (Saha and Kienbaum, 2019). As an example, we refer to
the work of Han et al. who analyzed nitrogen-doped adsorbents for CO2
capture using XPS analysis (see Fig. 6) (Han et al., 2019). The N1 s
spectra of the samples showing binding energies at 398.1, 400.3, 401.6,
and 405.1 eV, which corresponded to the functional groups pyridinic-N
(N-6), pyrrolic-/pyridonic-N (N-5), quaternary-N (N–Q) and
pyridine-N-oxide (N–X), respectively.
There are two main techniques used in nitrogen-doping. The first
method is by synthesizing the activated carbons nitrogen-free, as
explained previously in Section 2, followed by activating them with the
nitrogen-containing agent. The second technique involves carbonizing
the nitrogen-containing precursors along with the activated carbon in
one-step. One of the most common precursors used is nitrogen-
containing polymers such as polyaniline (Liang et al., 2018), mel­
amine (Rehman and Park, 2018), urea, nitrobenzene, and aniline (Cong
et al., 2015; Tian et al., 2018) or different types of polyamines such as
Fig. 6. XPS data obtained for the N-doped adsorbents. Adapted with permission from (Han et al., 2019). Copyright (2019) Elsevier.
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Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111
tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA), monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanol­
amine (DEA), polyethyleneimine (PEI) and diethylenetriamine (DETA)
(Wang et al., 2017). Other activating agents can also be NH3 (David and
Kopac, 2014) or sodium amide (Yang et al., 2019).
When the carbon is treated under high temperatures, the ammonia will
decompose to give free radicals such as NH2, NH, as well as hydrogen and
nitrogen atoms. The free radicals can then attack the carbon structure and
form the functionalized N-doped compounds, as seen in Eqs. (1)–(4).
Furthermore, the oxygen surface group can be replaced by the NH groups
under high temperatures, leading to the formation of imine and pyridine
(David and Kopac, 2014; Zhang et al., 2016).
R − COO − NH4+ − H2 O→R − CO − NH2 − H2 O →R − C ≡ N Eq. 18
R − OH + NH3 →R − NH2 + H2 O Eq. 19
R − C = 0 + NH3 →R − C = NH + H2 O Eq. 20
R − C = NH − H2 →R ≡ N Eq. 21
Ma et al. investigated N-doping’s effect on the uptake effect of CO2
through both experimental and theoretical calculations. Glucose was
used and chemically activated using KOH to form activated carbons. The
N-doped process was done using ethylenediamine. The obtained AC and
NPC were both best performing at 600 ◦ C. The NPC-600 gave a high
adsorption capacity of 5.01 mmol/g at 1 bar and 25 ◦ C and 7.60 mmol/g
at 0 ◦ C. It was found that the N-doping produced better adsorption re­
sults experimentally. They also showed that doping enhances the elec­
trostatic attractions for CO2 and effects on both the selectivity (N2/CO2)
and the isosteric heat of adsorption (Ma et al., 2019).
N. Abuelnoor et al.
Rouzitalab et al. used walnut shell (WS) biomass to make N-doped
AC. After carbonization, the carbonized WS were reacted with urea at
different ratios to form NWS. Furthermore, some samples were further
activated using a KOH chemical activator in a ratio of 1:4 to observe the
differences. These solids were denoted as KNWS. The best results were
obtained on a urea to carbon ratio of 2:1 and a KOH/C ratio of 2:1 at
600 ◦ C. This sample showed the best CO2 uptake of 7.42 mmol/g and
selectivity of 12.70 under a pressure of 1 bar at room temperature
(Rouzitalab et al., 2018). Xu et al. used PEI polymer for N-doping AC for
CO2 capture, and they proposed the following set of reactions to happen
based on the type of amine being functionalized (Xu et al., 2005). As
seen in Eq. (22)–(24) he primary reaction between the amines and the
CO2 forms carbamate limits the capacity to 1 mol of CO2 for every 2 mol
of the amine group.
CO2 + 2RNH2 ↔ NH4+ + R2 NCOO− Eq. 22
CO2 + 2R2 NH ↔ R2 NH2+ + R2 NCO0− Eq. 23
CO2 + 2R3 N ↔ R4 N + + R2 NCOO− Eq. 24
Zhang et al. studied the black locust precursor, which was chemically
activated using KOH and then functionalized its surface by heat treat­
ments with ammonia solution for enhancing CO2 adsorption. Due to
their well-developed microporous structure, the observed CO2 uptakes
of 7.19 and 5.05 mmol/g at 0 and 25 ◦ C (Zhang et al., 2016). Using the
Clausius− Clapeyron equation, the isosteric heats of adsorption (Qst)
were calculated from the measured adsorption isotherms at 0 and 25 ◦ C
and plotted, as shown in Fig. 7.
As seen, for the N-doped AC (AC-KOH-N), the CO2 uptake was in the
range of 0.1–3.5 mmol/g resulting in isosteric heats of 25.1–33.6 kJ/
mol. For the untreated AC, the uptake ranged from 0.1 to 2.6 mmol/g
and 10.4–17.5 kJ/mol. The AC activated with KOH (AC-KOH), the heats
of adsorption was 14.6–24.3 kJ/mol with uptakes in the ranges of
0.1–3.3 mmol/g. Physical adsorption took place for AC-KOH, which is
mainly dependent on the surface area. It was also seen that the highest
Qst values were obtained for the AC-KOH-N due to the nitrogen doping.
These results confirm the importance and the effect of functionalizing
the solid sorbents to improve their performance for CO2 adsorption.
Yang et al. used the walnut shell biomass to prepare N-doped ad­
sorbents using NaNH2 at ratios of 1.5–2.5 of NaNH2/AC. Like chemically
activated carbons, N-doped AC involved a carbonation step followed by
an activation step using a chemical that contains nitrogen. They
compared standard AC versus different combinations of N-doped
Fig. 7. Isosteric heats of adsorption calculated from adsorption isotherms at
0 and 25 ◦ C, respectively. Adapted with permission from (Zhang et al., 2016).
Copyright (2016) American Chemical Society.
13
Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111
materials that were activated at temperatures ranging from 400 to
500 ◦ C and ratios of 1.5–2.5. The AC’s SBET was 70 m2/g and showed
1.47 mmol/g of CO2 adsorption at 1 bar and 0 ◦ C. The best N-doped AC
was impregnated at a ratio of 2.5 and activated at 450 ◦ C and gave better
results than AC alone in terms of surface area and adsorption capacity,
1687 m2/g and 5.22 mmol/g (Yang et al., 2019).
Similarly, Chen et al. used urea as their nitrogen source to synthesize
N-doped activated carbons from coconut shell husks. The preparation
technique they used involved a carbonation step, followed by urea
impregnation to introduce the N, and a KOH activation step at 650 ◦ C.
For comparative purposes, AC were also prepared using direct KOH
activation procedure. The produced sorbents showed a CO2 uptake of
4.8 mmol/g at 25 ◦ C and 7 mmol/g at 0 ◦ C (Chen et al., 2016). The
adsorption isotherms obtained at 25 ◦ C and 1 bar are shown in Fig. 8 as
an example of the effect of N-doping and activation on the CO2
adsorption. Results show that there was no direct correlation between
the porous characteristics (pore volume and microporosity) and nitro­
gen content. This conclusion was supported by looking at NC-650-3, in
which the reported N- content and porous characteristics were inter­
mediate, and the CO2 uptake was the highest of all samples. NC-700-4,
which had the most microporosity and lowest N- content, and NC-600-2,
which had the most N- content but lowest micro porosity degree, both
had lower adsorption capacities. This suggests that both the nitrogen
content and the microporosity affect the CO2 uptake and that there is a
synergy of factors involved, as suggested by Yang et al. (Yang et al.,
2019).
Furthermore, as seen in Chen et al.’s results, excessive amine loading
can cause surface blockage to the pores, which can have a negative effect
on CO2 capture. This happens due to the obstruction of the active sites by
the presence of many functional groups. A proposed solution to this
problem is to optimize the amine loading to achieve maximum CO2
adsorption (Azmi and Aziz, 2019).
Rehman and Park used urea and KOH to prepare N-doped AC from
Chitosan. After carbonization, activation and nitrogen doping were done
simultaneously to produce CUK by varying the concentration urea and
KOH (Rehman and Park, 2020). Different nitrogen doped AC (0–11 at.
%.). CUK-112 (Chitosan 1: Urea 1: KOH 2) gave the best performance
and a maximum CO2 adsorption of 280 mg/g at 273 K and 1 bar. It was
seen that while it did not have the higher surface area (1746 m2/g as
opposed to 2150 m2/g for CUK-113) it showed the best CO2 adsorption
performance; thereby highlighting the importance of AC’s surface
chemistry on the CO2 adsorption capacity. Moreover, the same group
further studied the effect of N doping and non-doping on the CO2 uptake
(Rehman et al., 2021). Using glucose as a starting material, N doped AC
was produced by carbonization at 600 ◦ C and then mixing the resulting
powder with melamine and KOH in a ratio of 1:1:2. The samples were
activated at 800 ◦ C and 900 ◦ C. It was seen that although N doping gave
good textural properties (2211 m2/g) and CO2 adsorption (240 mg/g at
273 and 1 bar), the non-doped AC gave higher uptakes (304 mg/g). This
was explained due to the high pore volumes of pore sizes less than 73 nm
which are ideal for CO2 adsorption; proving sometimes, KOH activation
can give better results.
David and Kopac investigated amine impregnation using NH3 and
MEA impregnation. Rapeseed oil cake (RSOC) and Walnut shell (WS)
were first pyrolyzed to form carbonized solids, and the solids were
physically activated using CO2 at 750 ◦ C for 3 h. The AC were treated
with NH3 by passing the gas over the AC at temperatures that ranged
from 600 to 800 ◦ C in a quartz tube. For MEA impregnation, the aqueous
solution was mixed with the solids at a 1:2 v/v ratio for 120 min and
dried overnight (David and Kopac, 2014). It was seen that while MEA
resulted in a decrease of surface areas due to pore blockage, both NH3
and MEA have yielded better adsorption capacity due to the presence of
the N-functional groups that make the adsorbents more selective to CO2.
It was seen that functionalization help increase the adsorption ca­
pacity of the material due to the chemical bond formation between CO2
and the basic amine-based materials. The chemisorption process is
N. Abuelnoor et al.
Fig. 8. CO2 adsorption isotherms at 25 ◦ C (empty symbols) and 0 ◦ C (filled symbols) for nitrogen-doped carbons prepared under different conditions (a) 600 ◦ C, (b)
650 ◦ C, and (C) 700 ◦ C, and (d) isosteric heat of CO2 adsorption on NC-600-4, NC-650-3, NC-700-3. Adapted with permission from (Chen et al., 2016). Copyright
(2016) American Chemical Society.
better; however, the regeneration energies are higher than those in
unmodified AC. Furthermore, the process of amine impregnation yields
better results up to a certain limit; after which more amine loading has
led to surface blockage of the material and hence decreased adsorption
capacity. An optimization must be made to achieve the best results
regarding functionalized AC.
3.3. Pilot scale CO2 adsorption processes
There are several challenges faced when looking at commercializing
CO2 adsorption using solid adsorbents in general. Such challenges can be
classified as technical and economical. In order to have feasible com­
mercial adsorption set ups for CO2 capture at large scale, different re­
quirements must be taken into consideration for the chosen adsorbent:
(1) it must offer excellent adsorption efficiency under extreme heat
conditions or humidity while taking into consideration the regeneration
cycles before material exhaustion, (2) it should be readily available, it
should be synthesized in large quantities at a relatively low cost, (3) it
should have high selectivity towards CO2 versus N2 (4) and insensitive to
some other trace contaminants are found in a typical flue gas, like CH4,
O2, and H2O vapor, which can form competition against the CO2 during
the adsorption process (Wang et al., 2013). Most importantly, the AC
produced has to hold up to the adsorption standards of Zeolite 13X
which is often used as a benchmark for comparison due to having been
already used industrially (Bahamon et al., 2018; Goeppert et al., 2012).
Furthermore, taking into account the operating cost of the process,
the adsorbent should be regenerated easily without much energy input.
One of the main drawbacks of using absorption with aqueous amines for
CO2 capture is the considerable cost needed to regenerate the amine
14
Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111
absorbent during the scrubbing process. For the adsorption process to be
desirable, it should not have the same drawback. Therefore, it is
essential to find an optimized balance for which the adsorption is
desirable, and the desorption is also non-costly. This optimization
should be done carefully by examining the isosteric heats and the
adsorption isotherms (Evans, 2011).
In an adsorption operation process, adsorption and desorption take
place repeatedly in a cycle to separate the CO2 from the flue gas and then
obtain it from the adsorbent to store it. This continuous operation can be
achieved by vacuum swing adsorption (VSA), pressure swing adsorption
(PSA), temperature swing adsorption (TSA), and an electric temperature
swing adsorption (ESA) (Jiang et al., 2019). In a VSA, the adsorption
occurs at atmospheric pressure, while the desorption happens under
very low pressure (0.15 bar). In the PSA, the adsorption happens at
higher pressure while the desorption occurs at atmospheric pressure.
PSA is usually more common since going to a very low pressure on an
industrial scale is very costly and unsustainable (Jiang et al., 2020).
Similarly, a TSA can be used where the adsorber is heated, and the
desorber is cooled down to remove the adsorbed CO2 (Jiang et al.,
2018). Alternatively, electricity can be used to provide heat and facili­
tate faster adsorption in an ESA cycle (Zhao et al., 2018). Such tech­
nologies should be optimized and sometimes combined to provide the
best continuous process. As suggested by many studies, the combination
of more than one type of cycle such as a TVSA, VPSA, and PTSA can lead
to higher CO2 recovery at lower energy consumption better productivity
performance (Bahamon et al., 2020b; Jiang et al., 2019; Plaza et al.,
2016).
As previously mentioned, one of the most important advantages of
activated carbon adsorbents is their thermal stability. However, every
N. Abuelnoor et al.
material has its life cycle before degradation and replacement takes
place. Stability performance tests are run experimentally to check for the
material’s performance and thermal stability across multiple adsorption
desorption cycles. In a study by Choi et al. activated carbon was pre­
pared by KOH chemical activation from pollen. The produced AC were
tested for their thermal and performance stability across 10 adsorption
desorption cycles (Choi et al., 2019). It was reported that the material
prepared was stable under alternating cycles and had a stable cyclic
adsorption capacity of 2.41 mmol/g. Zhang et al. tested N doped AC for
thermal and cyclic stability across many cycles. Black locust was acti­
vated chemically using KOH and modified using Ammonia to produce N
doped AC (Zhang et al., 2016). Testing the produced AC across twenty
adsorption-desorption cycles, it was observed that the process was
completely reversible, stable and had a cyclic adsorption capacity of
4.95 mmol/g. It is however, recommended to perform further testing to
test the limit of the material’s performance and their degradation time
across cycles.
Some of the pilot plant studies have used amine-based solid sorbents
to test for CO2 adsorption. Zhao et al. ran pilot testing of CO2 capture
using amine sorbents to check the long-term chemical and thermal
stability. A 200 kWth pilot plant was designed for this purpose to test for
the continuous CO2 adsorption from flue gases. Around 800 kg of amine-
functionalized ion-exchange resin adsorbents with a particle size of
0.4–0.8 mm were used in the designed set up. Based on the followed
regeneration approaches, they found that the regeneration energy
needed was about 30% less than that of using aqueous-MEA-based ab­
sorption processes. Furthermore, they found that the pilot setup was
stable for 20 cycles of adsorption and regeneration in pure CO2 (Zhao
et al., 2014).
Glier and Rubina tested two solid sorbents (metal organic framework
and an AC amine-based sorbent) in an integrated model to estimate the
performance and costs of a new power plant (Glier and Rubina, 2013).
Moreover, they have conducted a probabilistic comparison between
these two sorbents’ performance and that of the commercial
amine-based solvent absorption system. Based on their results, it was
found that both sorbents reached 90% CO2 removal and a net plant ef­
ficiency (Higher heating value) of 32% for the metal organic framework,
29% for the amine-based sorbents, and 28% for the commercial liquid
amine-based system. These results prove that solid adsorbents perform
as well as or even better than commercial solvent-based CO2 capture
processes (Glier and Rubina, 2013).
In Korea, some key steps have been taken towards the testing of solid
adsorbents for CO2 capture at pilot-plant scale. For instance, in 2002, a
carbon dioxide capture system using solid sorbents was developed by the
Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) and Korea Electric Power
Research Institute (KEPRI) (Park et al., 2011). The favorable results of
such led to further improvements and testing. A 0.5 MW scale pilot plant
based on the results of the KIER data was constructed in 2009. Park et al.
tested this pilot plant and found that 80% of the CO2 removal happened
during a 50-h continuous operation that sometimes reached a maximum
of 85%. Those encouraging results showed that the developments in
solid adsorbents and adsorption systems could be applied to an indus­
trial coal-fired power plant. As a result, the Hadong Coal-Fired Power
Plant has commissioned a 10 MW scale CO2 capture plant for testing in
2011 (Park et al., 2011).
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has been supporting projects in
order to examine available sorbents and accelerate the development of
such materials for post-combustion applications (Sjostrom et al., 2011).
Sjostrom et al. tested about 100 solid sorbents using a fixed bed system
experimentally using a simulated flue gas. The materials were tested for
ten cycles, and the best ones were evaluated for a 1 kW pilot plant. They
found that their amine sorbents reached up to 90% removal of CO2
under both batch and continuous operation modes (Sjostrom et al.,
2011). Furthermore, Krutka et al. tested many configurations and re­
actors such as fixed beds, transport reactors, moving beds, trickle-down
reactors, and staged fluidized beds to find the most optimized heat
15
Chemosphere 282 (2021) 131111
transfer model in the adsorption system (Krutka et al., 2013). Their re­
sults had shown that a fluidized adsorber and a fluidized bed regenerator
give the best results with amine-based solid adsorbents.
Sjostrom and Senior worked on another project funded by the US
DOE. The aim is to use the pilot data to develop a preliminary full-scale
commercial design. In that project, adsorption was tested at a coal-fired
power plant using a temperature-swing adsorption process (Sjostrom
and Senior, 2019). An ion-exchange resin that incorporated amines that
were covalently bonded to the substrate was chosen as the adsorbent to
test the 1-MWe slipstream pilot plant. This testing process used a unique
TSA process that incorporated a three-stage fluidized-bed adsorber in­
tegrated with a single-stage fluidized bed regenerator. Results from this
initial testing demonstrated that the process could achieve up to 90%
CO2 removal from coal-fired plants (Sjostrom and Senior, 2020). While
the pilot plant worked as expected, some difficulties were observed
while handling the sorbent on a commercial scale versus lab scale. Some
work still needs to be done before commissioning a fully functional plant
operating as designed and expected.
The economic aspects play an integral part in the scaling up of these
processes towards commercialization. Nowrouzi et al. ran a cost analysis
and estimated that for an annual production of 900 tonnes of AC
chemically activated by KOH or H3PO4 would be sold at the price range
of $1.6–1.7 per kilogram (Nowrouzi et al., 2017). However, the yield of
produced AC is a very important aspect that needs to be considered. A
consistent yield is a deciding factor in commercialization. It was found
that such materials’ efficiency could vary between batches in terms of
morphological characteristics such as surface area, micropore size,
volume, and production yield. This is considered a key limitation when
looking at the aspect of commercialization. In order to be fully consid­
ered for scaling up, the quality across all prepared batches should be the
same.
Moreover, other aspects to consider, such as the capital investment
and the running operational costs, vary based on the plant’s size and
operation capacity. While the prospect is promising, more studies need
to be devoted to the upscaling and CO2 adsorption economics using
activated carbon sorbents from biomass before being implemented at a
large scale for PCC.
4. Summary and perspectives
This review provided a comprehensive summary of the key findings
and the recent advancements in synthesizing activated carbons from
biomass materials and their potential as adsorbents for CO2 capture
applications. The review contains information about the different syn­
thesis processes used to obtain AC, and how they affect their structural
properties, as well as adsorption capacity for separating CO2 from a flue
gas. The coupling of different pyrolytic conditions and different chem­
ical or physical techniques was seen to produce AC with various prop­
erties, sizes, and surface areas. The best way to tailor an adsorbate for
the needed application would be to alternate the techniques to find the
optimum operating conditions and the best performing materials. As
observed, the agricultural precursors mainly used for AC synthesis were
highlighted in the review, and the choice was based on the geographical
availability.
Most studies in the literature had focused on measuring the surface
areas, pore volumes, and diameters of the activated carbons to charac­
terize the morphological properties of the AC. It can be concluded that in
most of the cases the chemical activation technique yields the best re­
sults giving AC with large surface areas. As a result, most recent studies
focus on using chemical activation instead of physical activation, among
them, KOH is the most commonly used chemical activator and, on
average, gives the best properties. ZnCl2 is also a commonly used
chemical activator and is sometimes preferred since it is a neutral salt
and inherently safer than basic KOH. Most of these materials have been
tested for CO2 adsorption at lab scale only. In most, the selectivity of
CO2/N2 was also measured to accurately assess the performance of the
N. Abuelnoor et al.
AC in more accurate conditions. However, it was seen that not much
work has been done to test for a flue gas with other impurities such as
SOx and NOx. Adsorption desorption performance was also assessed in
many pilot plants or even on lab scale at post combustion conditions.
The adsorption capacity of CO2 increased when the AC are func­
tionalized or doped with nitrogen. However, an optimized balance must
be found since the desorption becomes more energy intensive due to the
formation of covalent bonding in chemisorption. This is still a very
incipient area and much more work is needed to further assess the use of
these materials at process conditions.
While all studies have reported excellent adsorption capacities that
are as good or even better than those AC prepared from nonrenewable
sources, few studies have reported the adsorption isosteric heats or the
selectivity values. As these two factors are crucial in selecting the ma­
terials and evaluating their performance, it is advisable to have those
two parameters reported. Furthermore, to enhance the selectivity of
CO2/N2 on activated carbon, optimizing the temperature and pressure of
adsorption can be the major key. Furthermore, as discussed, function­
alization of AC is the best method to obtain materials that have very high
affinity to CO2 as opposed to N2. Moreover, some studies have looked
into the potential for AC metal doping but not much done on biomass
AC. Metal doping functionalization could be explored for bettering the
performance of AC. To preserve energy as the pyrolysis process con­
sumes much heat, some researchers have been exploring the potential of
using microwave techniques instead of the conventional tube furnace
and ovens. It was seen that microwave heating could give the same re­
sults in shorter times and with high energy consumption reduction.
One of the gaps found in the literature is the lack of long-term testing
of the adsorbent materials at the required process conditions, including
also the effect of impurities. More importantly, more studies should be
devoted to exploring the potential of upscaling from lab experimenta­
tion to a pilot and industrial scale. It should be bear in mind that one of
the main limitations when scaling up processes using AC from biomass,
as that the quality/specifications of the adsorbents may varies between
batches, which can hinder their application at large scale. This should be
explicitly considered when scaling up the most promising materials.
Moreover, the cost of synthesizing and activating such biomass materials
should also be taken into consideration. In most cases, to obtain the
biomass source (seeds/leaves) they need to be extracted and obtained
from waste treatment plants, or as unwanted by-product from existing
industries. Therefore, such costs should also be considered.
Overall, given their low cost, vast availability and the flexibility of
fine-tuning them for specific applications, it is concluded that activated
carbons from biomass are very good candidates for CO2 capture, making
them very attractive for PCC. We have also identified here some of the
needs to move them forward to a larger scale and the limitations that
need to be overcome to accomplish it.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
Financial support for this work from Khalifa University of Science
and Technology under projects RC2-2019-007 (RICH Center) and CIRA
2018-103 are gratefully acknowledged.
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