Nanoporous
carbon (HNC) with a flake and nanotubular morphology and a high specific
surface area is prepared by using natural halloysite nanotubes (HNTs),
a low-cost and naturally available clay material with a mixture of
flaky and tubular morphology. A controlled pore-filling technique
is used to selectively control the porosity, morphology, and the specific
surface area of the HNC. Activated nanoporous carbon (AHNC) with a
high specific surface area is also prepared by using HNT together
with the activation process with zinc chloride (ZnCl2).
HNC exhibits flakes and tubular morphologies, which offer a high specific
surface area (837 m2/g). The specific surface area of AHNC
is 1646 m2/g, 74 times greater than the specific surface
area of pure HNT (22.5 m2/g). These data revealed that
the single-step activation combined with the nanotemplating results
in creating a huge impact on the specific surface area of the HNC.
Both HNC and AHNC are employed as adsorbents for CO2 adsorption
at different pressures and adsorption temperatures. The CO2 adsorption capacity of AHNC is 25.7 mmol/g at 0 °C, which is
found to be significantly higher than that of activated carbon (AC),
mesoporous carbon (CMK-3), mesoporous carbon nitride (MCN-1), and
multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT). AHNC is also tested as an electroactive
material and demonstrates good supercapacitance, cyclic stability,
and high capacitance retention. Specific capacitance of AHNC in the
aqueous electrolyte is 197 F/g at 0.3 A/g, which is higher than that
of AC, MWCNT, and CMK-3. The technique adopted for the preparation
of both HNC and AHNC is quite unique and simple, has the potential
to replace the existing highly expensive and sophisticated mesoporous
silica-based nanotemplating strategy, and could also be applied for
the fabrication of series of advanced nanostructures with unique functionalities.