Sweetwood Lignin As a Promising Precursor Towards Multi-Functional Electrode Material

Abstract

Currently, industrial development has led to a constant increase in demand for energy and sustainable energy resources, so there is an intensive search for a replacement for fossil fuels. The goal of this research is synthesis multi-functional electrode material using "Sweetwood" lignin (industrial by-product from sugars solutions for fuels, chemicals etc.) as a raw material via thermochemical activation with subsequent N-doping. Three-dimensional hierarchical micro- and mesoporous structures of activated carbon materials show promising results as an alternative PGM-free oxygen reduction catalysts for alkaline systems. The ORR activity of the synthesized carbon catalysts may be associated with the high percentage of pyridinic nitrogen, highly developed surface area, micro- and mesoporous ratio and balance, and lack of stacking defects of graphene layers. Furthermore, "Sweetwood" lignin carbon materials were assessed as electrode in supercapacitors. It was found that activation temperature plays a significant role on the specific capacitance which is additionally improved by doping of the carbon precursor with nitrogen. Acknowledgment The “Sustainably Produced Carbon Nanomaterials for Energy Applications (SuNaMa)” benefits from a 988000 € grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway through the EEA Grants. The aim of the project is to develop innovative, high-performance, highly conductive, electrocatalytically active, durable, cost-effective, and high surface area nanocarbon materials. Project contract with the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT) No. is S-BMT-21-12 (LT08-2-LMT-K-01-055).