This article describes the synthesis and characterization of porous carbon derived from waste banana peels by chemical activation with KOH or by activation KOH and urea modification. The as-synthesized samples were carefully characterized by various techniques. The prepared carbonaceous materials possess highly developed micropore and mesopore structures and high specific surface area (up to 2795 cm(2)/g for materials synthetized with KOH and 2718 cm(2)/g for activated carbons prepared with KOH and urea). A series of KOH-activated samples showed CO2 adsorption at 1 bar to 5.75 mmol/g at 0 degrees C and 3.74 mmol/g at 25 degrees C. The incorporation of nitrogen into the carbon sorbent structure increased the carbon uptake capacity of the resulting materials at 1 bar to 6.28 mmol/g and to 3.86 mmol/g at 0 degrees C and 25 degrees C, respectively. It was demonstrated that treatment with urea leads to a significant increase in nitrogen content and, consequently, CO2 adsorption, except for the material carbonized at 900 degrees C. At such a high temperature, almost complete decomposition of urea occurs. The results presented in this work could be used in the future for utilization of biomass such as banana peels as a low-cost adsorbent for CO2 capture, which could have a positive impact on the environment and human health protection.
