MOF-derived 3D porous carbon aerogels as an efficient adsorbent for toluene in humid air

Due to the ecological and health hazards of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the removal of industrial VOCs has become an important issue of increasing concern. In this work, we synthesized easy-processing ZIF-8/agarose composite porous carbon aerogels and investigated their toluene adsorption performance. Results indicated that carbon aerogels had large specific surface area, uniform microporous structure and high nitrogen content. The toluene adsorption capacity of carbon aerogel was 511.2 mg/g under RH50%, which was higher than that of commercial adsorbents and other MOFs with the same specific surface area. The adsorption mechanism of carbon aerogels was further studied via DFT method and was determined as pore-filling effect, π-π interaction and electron donor/acceptor interaction. In addition, carbon aerogels also showed high efficiency and recyclability which kept 70% adsorption capacity at ambient humidity and successfully regenerated after three cycles without obvious loss of adsorption capacity. Therefore, the high adsorption capacity and recyclability facilitate the synthesized aerogels become a promising adsorbent in VOCs adsorption field.