Carbon-based materials for CO2 capture: Their production, modification and performance

Climate change is a growing threat to civilization. The major anthropogenic greenhouse gas is CO2, which is emitted principally from the combustion of mineral hydrocarbons. By 2100, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is expected to rise twofold due to increased vehicular emissions, deforestation, chemical processes, and fossil fuel-fired power plants. To this end, there is an urgent demand for adopting CO2 emissions mitigation strategies. Worldwide efforts have resulted in developing new and affordable CO2 reduction methods. The significant levels of CO2 released into the atmosphere can be diminished using diverse liquid and/or solid materials. The commonly used liquid sorption routes require expensive regeneration and produce harmful by-products. Therefore, this review focuses on the use of carbon-based materials (CBMs) for CO2 capture. In principle, CBMs have the potential for industrial applications due to their cost efficiency, desirable regeneration, and ability to physically uptake considerable amounts of CO2. The present paper aims to discuss the fundamental mechanism of CO2 capture on the most commonly investigated CBMs in the last five years. Besides, it provides a comprehensive study of significant progress in designing and synthesizing CBMs, including nanotubes, aerogels, composites, and biomass derivatives, with their adsorption potential for CO2. Noteworthy, progress has been made in this subject; nevertheless, further investigations are still necessary. Finally, several perspectives are discussed in light of recent studies regarding sustainable CO2 capture development.