Silane coupling agent assisting dopamine-functionalized biomass porous carbons for enhanced adsorption of organic acids: effects of acid–alkali activation on microstructure

Biomass porous carbons derived from Laminaria japonica were prepared by KOH and H 3 PO 4 activation methods, respectively. The results indicated that the chemical activation had an apparent effect on the molecular framework and space of materials. To enhance the selective adsorption for organic acids, biomass carbons were modified by dopamine combined with N -(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane. The SEM and BET results illustrated the effect of the chemical activation approach on the morphology and porous texture. The biomass porous carbon using KOH activation method had the highest surface area (up to 1558 m 2 /g). Compared with unmodified materials, the modified materials showed higher adsorption capacity for organic acids (27.90 μg/mL for chlorogenic acid and 25.47 μg/mL for caffeic acid). It was suggested that modification of porous carbons might be a viable pathway to increase the specific adsorption affinity and efficiency for organic acids in dried jujube samples.