Preparation and Characterization of Nitrogen and Oxygen Heteroatom Codoped Activated Biocarbons from Edamame Shell

A simple procedure was evaluated to prepare cost-effective heteroatom self-doped porous carbons from edamame shell using a two-step carbonization and activation process. The morphological, structural, textural properties and N-2/CO2 adsorption-desorption were investigated. The results showed that edamame shell, which is abundant in nitrogen and oxygen, is an ideal precursor for preparing heteroatom self-doped porous carbons. The N and O contents of the prepared activated carbons (ACs) ranged from 1.20 wt% to 1.81 wt% and 5.13 wt% to 9.98 wt%, respectively. Furthermore, the specific surface area of 1835 m(2)/g of the N and O doped ACs resulted in mainly microporosity, which suggested that it has promising potential for wide applications in the fields of catalysis, energy conversion, energy storage devices, and adsorption.