Nitrogen-decorated, porous carbons derived from waste cow manure as efficient catalysts for the selective capture and conversion of CO2

Abstract

The catalytic conversion of CO₂ is a promising solution to the greenhouse effect and simultaneously recycles the carbon sources to produce high value-added chemicals. Herein, we demonstrated a class of nanoporous carbons, which were synthesized by the direct carbonization of bio-waste cow manure, followed by activation with KOH and NaNH₂. Various characterizations indicate that the resultant nanoporous carbons have abundant nanopores and nitrogen sites. As a result, their performances for the capture and catalytic conversion of CO₂ were investigated. The synthesized nanoporous carbons exhibited superior properties for the selective capture and catalytic cycloaddition of CO₂ to propylene oxide as compared to various solid materials.