Ultrahigh CO2 adsorption capacity on carbon molecular sieves at room temperature

Although metal-organic framework (MOF) materials have been postulated as superior to any other sorbent for CO2 adsorption at room temperature, here we prove that the appropriate selection of the raw material and the synthesis conditions allows the preparation of carbon molecular sieves (CMSs) with adsorption capacity, on a volumetric basis, highly exceeding those reported in the literature for MOFs. Furthermore, the excellent sorption properties of CMSs over the whole pressure range (up to 50 bar) are fully reversible after different adsorption/desorption cycles.