Sustainable Ball Milling‐Assisted Synthesis of Bread Waste‐Derived Highly Porous Carbons for Adsorption‐Based Applications

A facile synthesis was used for the preparation of highly porous carbons from bread waste. This synthesis relied on the fast ball milling of only two reagents, dry bread, and a mild activation agent, followed by direct thermal treatment at 800°C, afforded carbons with high specific surface areas up to 2400 m ² ·g ⁻¹ , and a large pore volume up to 1.56 cm ³ ·g ⁻¹ . This seems to be the first attempt to employ ball milling for the synthesis of sustainable bread‐derived highly porous carbons. Effective activation was achieved thanks to homogeneous distribution of the activating agent throughout the precursor, ensured by mechanochemical treatment. These carbons adsorbed a high amount of carbon dioxide at 0°C and 1 bar, up to 6.7 mmol·g ⁻¹ . Moreover, cyclic stability, CO ₂ /N ₂ selectivity at 0°C, and benzene adsorption–desorption isotherms at 20°C were determined for the selected samples. High porosity in carbons is essential for adsorption and catalysis‐related applications. Additionally, the proposed strategy provides a solution for cost‐effective and feasible food waste management.