Microporous Borocarbonitrides B(x)C(y)N(z): Synthesis, Characterization, and Promises for CO(2) Capture

Porous borocarbonitrides (denoted BCN) were prepared through pyrolysis of the polymer stemmed from dehydrocoupled ethane 1,2-diamineborane (BH(3)NH(2)CH(2)CH(2)NH(2)BH(3), EDAB) in the presence of F-127. These materials contain interconnected pores in the nanometer range with a high specific surface area up to 511 m(2) · g(−1). Gas adsorption of CO(2) demonstrated an interesting uptake (3.23 mmol · g(−1) at 0 °C), a high CO(2)/N(2) selectivity as well as a significant recyclability after several adsorption–desorption cycles. For comparison’s sake, a synthesized non-porous BCN as well as a commercial BN sample were studied to investigate the role of porosity and carbon doping factors in CO(2) capture. The present work thus tends to demonstrate that the two-step synthesis of microporous BCN adsorbent materials from EDAB using a bottom-up approach (dehydrocoupling followed by pyrolysis at 1100 °C) is relatively simple and interesting.