Preparation of activated carbon from alkali lignin using novel one-step process for high electrochemical performance application

Abstract

As the second most abundant bio-resource and as a byproduct of lignocellulose material processing, alkali lignin has to become a quantitative issue due to its difficulties to handle. On the other hand, lignin has high natural carbon contents, so it has the potential to act as a precursor for carbon materials. However, many previous researchers do three steps to transform it into high porous carbon: precipitation by reducing the alkaline compound, calcination to transform it into carbon, and carbon activation by adding alkaline compound again. In this study, the porous carbon material from alkali lignin in a one-step process for use as an electrode in supercapacitor and electrocatalyst is examined. The evaporation and especially carbonation temperature are studied to obtain the high porous carbon. After varying calcination temperatures, the carbon material's characterization was investigated to examine porosity, morphology, crystallinity, specific electrocapacity, and Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) electrocatalyst activity. The carbon derived from Na-lignin via calcination at 700 °C had the highest electrocapacity of 168.29F/g. The electron transformed number is 2.23, indicating that the carbon derived from Na-lignin via calcination is promising for an electrode agent of supercapacitor and electrocatalyst for ORR.