By taking the advantages of easy decomposition and catalytic function of basic magnesium carbonate

the mechanically stable porous carbon materials (MCM-Mg) are synthesized through rapid gelation of resorcinol with formaldehyde and subsequently carbonization. Compared with samples catalyzed by traditional carbonates

the synthesis process can obtain a well-developed porous structure. The resulted samples can withstand a pressure of up to 9.4 MPa. At 273 K

the equilibrium CO2 adsorption capacities of MCM-Mg are in the range of 3.49—4.50 mmol·g-1 at 0.1 MPa and can reach 1.87 mmol·g-1 at 0.015 MPa. Experimental test of the MCM-Mg shows that the micropores play a major role in contribution of the amount of adsorbed CO2. Importantly

MCM-Mg can adsorb 7.15 μmol CO2 per Smicro

which surpasses most of the carbons prepared by activation. Dynamic breakthrough tests show that over such series of samples

CO2/N2 streams can be fully separated. The CO2 release is achieved facilely in Ar purge at 298 K. The samples also exhibit stable performance for CO2 separation under humid conditions and exhibit good regeneration capability.