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

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