Nanopore Microenvironment Regulation of a Self-Supporting Cellulose-Based Porous Carbon Fiber Cloth by Homogeneous One-Step Activation for Hydrogen Storage and Carbon Dioxide Capture

Porous carbon fiber materials designed for hydrogen storage and carbon dioxide capture under ambient pressure have garnered significant research interest due to their safety, high efficiency, and simplicity. However, traditional activation processes compromise the nanopore microenvironment composed of surface chemical structure, multistage nanopore structure, and mechanical self-supporting properties of porous carbon fiber due to the excessive pore-making etching action, hindering their practical application. To address this, a self-supporting porous carbon fiber flexible cloth (POACF-P30-900) with multistage nanopore structure (VMicro = 0.468 cm3/g and VMeso = 0.712 cm3/g), high specific surface area (SBET = 1727 m2/g), and abundant P/O functional groups was constructed by a simple and homogeneous one-step activation process. Under the nanopore interface microenvironment composed of dipole-induced interaction and multistage nanopore structure, POACF-P30-900 presents an excellent reversible hydrogen storage capacity of 2.16 wt % at 1 bar and 77 K and a reversible CO2 capture capacity of 14.2 wt % at 298 K and 1 bar. This study proposes a scalable construction strategy for the self-supporting porous carbon fiber flexible cloth, advancing large-scale application of solid-state porous adsorption materials.