Sustainable porous hollow carbon spheres with high specific surface area derived from Kraft lignin

Abstract

Hollow carbon spheres (HCSs) have attracted tremendous interest in recent years due to their intriguing structure-induced physicochemical properties and significant potential for numerous applications. However, the preparation of HCSs with precise structural control using a simple and scalable strategy remains challenging. In this work, hollow carbon particles having a well-defined spherical morphology were successfully produced using a green, economical, and facile spray drying method together with a carbonization process. Kraft lignin was employed as the carbon precursor in place of lignosulfonate with potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an activation agent. The high specific surface area (1536.5–2424.8 m2 g−1) with micro-mesoporous structure of HCSs can be easily tuned by controlling the mass ratio of KOH to carbon precursor. The KOH-to-lignin mass ratios were utilized below 1.5, lower than those in previous studies typically used higher than 3, which was in accordance with green chemistry principles. In addition, these HCSs have applications as electrode materials in supercapacitors for energy storage devices. With the great achievements and continuous efforts in this important field, these results suggest that our approach will open a new path for the development of advanced carbon materials and high value-added utilization of Kraft lignin as a promising material for potential applications.