Combustion derived carbon with ultrahigh-mesoporosity and moderate surface affinity towards reversible low-volatile gas capture

Capturing naphthalene as a valuable chemical from waste gases via adsorption on porous sorbent materials is a promising approach to tackle such an environmental health issue with additional economic benefits. However, very few sorbents have simultaneously high adsorption capacity and good regenerability for the large-molecular and low-volatile naphthalene. Here we attempt to address this challenge by integrating key fabrication elements of a layer-by-layer network, rational mesoporosity, and highly reversible sites into a carbonaceous adsorbent (ECSC) using a facile and fast eruptive solution combustion synthesis method. Adsorption breakthrough and temperature-programmed desorption experiments show that the ECSC achieves all-round superior naphthalene capture performance with unprecedented high capacity, fast kinetics, and low desorption energy. The combination of in situ DRIFTS, XPS, and DFT calculations reveals the moderate adsorption affinity of mitigated π–π stacking bonding between tilted naphthalene molecule and surface pyridinic N. This work affords new insights for designing next-generation adsorbents for naphthalene removal and presents a way of overcoming the adsorption–desorption dilemma for gas purification.