Biomass-based Porous Carbon Research Articles

In situ dual-utilize of ZnCl2 for preparation of ZIF-8 functionalized biomass-based porous carbon for adsorption removal of volatile organic compounds

In this study, ZnCl2 was successfully dual-used for the chemical activation of biomass-based activated carbon (BAC) and ZIF-8 synthesis to prepare the functionalized porous carbon composite PC-Z/W. The findings indicated that the chemical activator ZnCl2 be directly recycled for the synthesis of ZIF-8 on BAC. The ZIF-8 functionalization provided the PC-Z/W composites with a well-developed porous structure and rich N- and O-containing surface functional groups, which enabled the PC-Z/W to exhibit superior adsorption properties (large adsorption capacity, temp adaptability, and competitive adsorption with water) for low-concentration gaseous pollutants. The PC-Z/W(P1000) exhibited the best adsorption performance for toluene, with a saturation adsorption capacity (qs) of 277 mg/g at 25 °C and retained 70 % of qs (192 mg/g) at 80 °C. It also has exceptional adsorption capabilities for acetone (qs = 170 mg/g) and ethyl acetate (qs = 227 mg/g), enabling it to show superior multi-component adsorption behavior and effective competition with water. In addition to VOCs, PC-Z/W is also noteworthy for the adsorption of inorganic substances like SO2 (203 mg/g) and CO2 (4.65 mmol/g), greatly broadening its application prospects.

Nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous carbon derived from biomass for efficient capture of iodine

Effectively capturing radioactive iodine formed during nuclear energy utilization is crucial for environment protection and human health. Herein, we present a facile and effective strategy to synthesize a nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous carbon from corn stalks for iodine capture in gaseous and liquid environment. The as-prepared carbon material possesses a hierarchically micro/mesopore structure with highly developed mesopores, a large specific surface area (1892.99 m2 g−1), and suitable nitrogen-doping (2.32 at.%). As a result, the carbon material exhibits efficient iodine capture performance, showing a large capture capacity of 3.14 g g−1 at 80 °C for iodine vapor and a fast removal rate of ∼97 % within 5 min for iodine aqueous solution, outperforming most of carbon-based materials for iodine capture reported in literatures. Thermodynamic and kinetic analyses reveal that the adsorption of iodine vapor conforms to the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order model, respectively. Density functional theory calculation results indicate that the doped-nitrogen heteroatoms strengthen the interaction between iodine molecules and carbon, which can enhance the affinity for iodine molecules by forming a donor–acceptor complex through the donation of lone-pair electrons, thereby facilitating effective capture of iodine. This work develops a biomass-based porous carbon with potential to efficiently capture radioactive iodine.

Porous biochar production from microwave pyrolysis of sugarcane bagasse biomass with KOH addition

ABSTRACT Biomass-based porous carbons have diverse structures and typically exhibit good multifunctionality. Therefore, compared to direct combustion, using pyrolysis to convert agricultural waste into biochar is an environmentally friendly and effective treatment method. Preparing biomass-derived porous carbon materials (PCMs) through microwave is challenging, as biomass rarely absorbs microwave energy and necessitates the inclusion of additional microwave absorbers. In this study, a silicon carbide crucible was designed to simplify the microwave pyrolysis process, and sugarcane bagasse-based porous carbon (GZKM) was prepared using a microwave pyrolysis coupled with KOH activation method without adding additional microwave absorbers. A detailed study was conducted on the yield, surface morphology, and pore structure of biochar obtained from different temperatures (700, 750, 800, 850, and 900 °C) and different mass ratios of sugarcane bagasse to KOH (0, 4:1, 2:1, 1:1, and 1:2). The results indicated that as the pyrolysis temperature and KOH addition increased, the yield of biochar gradually decreased from a highest value of 31.41 wt% to a lowest value of 11.8 wt%. The specific surface area (SBET) of GZKM initially increased and then decreased with the increase in pyrolysis temperature and KOH mass, reaching a maximum value of 889.41 m2/g. The results of this study can provide guidance for the reuse of sugarcane bagasse and the preparation of porous biochar, and can also be applied in fields such as electrocatalysts, batteries, biomedical materials, and wastewater treatment.

Storage Mechanism and Structural Design of High-Performance Renewable Hydrogen Storage Materials Derived from Biomass-Based Porous Carbon: A Mini-Review

Storage Mechanism and Structural Design of High-Performance Renewable Hydrogen Storage Materials Derived from Biomass-Based Porous Carbon: A Mini-Review

Renewable biomass bougainvillea petals-derived porous carbon through KOH activation and B/N co-doping: Synergistic contribution and charge storage mechanism

Heteroatom doping and chemical/physical activation can be considered as two effective pathways to enhance the electrochemical performance of biomass-based porous carbon electrodes through distinct operating mechanisms. Herein, a series of biomass bougainvillea petal-derived carbon materials are successively synthesized by different strategies, among which BP-4 carbon material with hierarchical porous architecture is successfully fabricated through a composite strategy combining KOH activation and B/N co-doping. After a series of characterization tests of these synthesized materials, it is found that the BP-4 porous carbon possesses an appropriate graphitization degree, a large specific surface area, a suitable pore structure and high B and N contents. Due to the synergistic contribution of boosting the specific surface area by the KOH pore-forming activation process and generating additional faradic pseudocapacitance by introducing B/N functional groups, the BP-4 electrode exhibits brilliant electrochemical properties in terms of specific capacitance, rate capability, electrical conductivity and cycle life compared to other three carbon electrodes. Furthermore, the CV kinetic analysis of four carbon electrodes is systematically explored, which expounds the immense variability of charge storage mechanisms. This study offers insights for the exquisite design of biomass-based porous carbon material electrode with abundant electroactive sites and broadened electrochemical potential for the practical application of renewable natural biomass materials in energy storage.

A review on the adsorption of volatile organic compounds by biomass-based porous carbon (BPC) and its mechanism

A review on the adsorption of volatile organic compounds by biomass-based porous carbon (BPC) and its mechanism

Nanoarchitectonics of porous carbon materials for supercapacitors using a strategy of direct mixing of biomass

Exploring biomass-based porous carbon electrode materials and regulating their pore structures remain a great challenge in the field of renewable energy storage devices. For our work, the mixture of bagasse and pleurotus geesteranus was used as carbon source, and a strategy based on the simple mixture of biomass was proposed to achieve the regulation of porous carbon structure. Through studying the co-pyrolysis process of the mixed system, a magic phenomenon that the lignocellulose of bagasse and the protein of the pleurotus geesteranus will have a Maillard reaction was found, promoting the pyrolysis of the mixed system. Since the degree of the pre‑carbonized carbon etched by KOH was different, the pore structure of the carbon material can be regulated by adjusting the mixing ratio. Through this regulation strategy, porous carbon with larger pore volume than bagasse based carbon materials was prepared as the carbon electrode for supercapacitors. The specific capacitance of 322.5 F g−1 was obtained by using three-electrode system in the solution of KOH at 0.5 A g−1. In the solution of Na2SO4, the energy density of two-electrode system can reach 21 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 872 W kg−1. Importantly, the simple preparation strategy provides an effective and green method to prepare advanced porous carbon electrode materials for high performance supercapacitor.

Chitosan-derived large surface area porous carbon via microphase separation engineering of pore-regulation and nitrogen-doping coupling for high-performance supercapacitors

In the face of the contradiction between the shortage of fossil raw materials, global warming and growing energy demand, it is of great practical significance to apply biomass, which is widely available in nature, environmentally friendly and renewable, to energy storage. Based on the coupling mechanism of pore-regulation and N-doping, this study implements pre-carbonization through microphase separation engineering in the chitosan (CS) and aniline (AN) co-hydrothermal. Using hydrochar as the precursor, porous carbon with good electrochemical properties has been prepared by a multi-step process consisting of KOH activation, pyrolysis, pickling and water washing. The CS/AN co-doped porous carbons (1830.08–2576.53 m2/g) show an enhancement of 8.48%–52.73 % in specific surface area compared to the CS porous carbon (1687.02 m2/g). The hierarchical network structure of the micro-mesoporous interconnects enables fast ion transport and the ultra-micropores further increase the specific capacitance of the electrodes. Theoretical calculation shows that N doping can effectively activate the chemically inert carbon structure and enhance the adsorption capacity of electrolyte ions, thus increasing the specific capacitance. Using 6 M KOH as the electrolyte, CS-AN60-220-800 exhibits a specific capacitance of 368.6 F/g (1.0 A/g) in the three-electrode system. In the two-electrode system, the supercapacitor device constructed with CS-AN60-220-800 demonstrates a capacitance retention of 95.32 % (after 10,000 cycles) along with an energy density of 14.16 Wh/kg (with a power density of 125 W/kg), which is at a high level among similar biomass symmetric supercapacitors. The preparation strategy provides a valuable reference for the preparation of other biomass-based porous carbon, as well as for applications in energy storage.

Nitrogen-Doped Cellulose-Derived Porous Carbon Fibers for High Mass-Loading Aqueous Supercapacitors.

Biomass-based porous carbon with renewability and flexible structure tunability is a promising electrode material for supercapacitors. However, there is a huge gap between experimental research and practical applications. How to maintain good electrochemical performance of high mass-loading electrodes and suppress the self-discharge of supercapacitors is a key issue that urgently needs to be addressed. The structure regulation of electrode materials such as heteroatom doping is a promising optimization strategy for high mass-loading electrodes. In this work, nitrogen-doped cellulose-derived porous carbon fibers (N-CHPCs) were prepared by a facile bio-template method using cotton cellulose as raw material and urea as dopant. The prepared N-CHPCs have high specific surface area, excellent hierarchical porous structure, partial graphitization properties and suitable heteroatom content. The assembled high mass-loading (12.8 mg cm-2; 245 μm) aqueous supercapacitor has excellent electrochemical performance, i. e., low open-circuit voltage attenuation rate (21.39 mV h-1), high voltage retention rate (78.81 %), high specific capacitance (295.8 F g-1 at 0.1 A g-1), excellent area capacitance (3.79 F cm-2 at 0.1 A g-1), excellent cycling stability (97.28 % over 20,000 cycles at 1.0 A g-1). The excellent performance of high mass-loading N-CHPCs is of great significance for their practical applications in advanced aqueous supercapacitors.

Addition of reduced graphene oxide to carbon shaft based on cerbera manghas mesocarp to improve energy storage performance of supercapacitor cells

Improving the electrochemical performance of biomass-based porous carbon materials has been widely studied, one of which is by adding other materials such as rGO. In this work, a porous carbon based on cerbera manghas mesocarp biomass with the addition of rGO (CMG) has been successfully synthesized. The mass addition of rGO was varied to determine how it affects capacitive performance. CMG samples were characterized using SEM, EDX, XRD, FTIR, and BET. The morphology obtained has an abundant pore structure so that there are many paths through which ions can diffuse, is rich in C content and has a large surface area. Electrochemical performance measurements in a two-electrode system revealed that CMG-03 had the largest specific surface area (787.574 m2 g−1) and the highest specific capacitance (286 F g−1 at 1 mV s−1). The results obtained can provide information that cerbera manghas mesocarp biomass with the addition of rGO has the potential to be used in supercapacitor applications.

ZnCl2-KOH modulation of biomass-derived porous carbon for supercapacitors

ABSTRACT With the implementation of carbon neutrality, more and more researchers are devoted to the development of biomass-based porous carbon materials using agricultural and forestry wastes for energy storage applications. However, biomass-derived carbon materials are still suffering from structural instability and difficult to regulate the pore structure, so it is very essential to study the regulation of pore structure in activation process of biochar. Therefore, this work developed an approach to modulate the pore structure of biomass porous carbon. The pyrolyzed biochar was primary activated by ZnCl2 to form the intermediate FC, and the FC was secondary activated by the impregnation method with the addition of trace KOH to form the graded porous carbon FCK-x. The prepared porous carbon exhibited a large specific surface area (2845 m2g−1) and a large pore volume (1.43 cm3g−1), which is very favorable for efficient ion transport in the three-electrode system, FCK-0.6 exhibited a specific capacitance of 321.7 F/g at 1A/g and the assembled supercapacitor exhibited high capacitance retention (95.17%) and charge retention (85%). This work provides a feasible way to modulate biomass pore structure.

Bimetallic MOF@wood-derived hierarchical porous carbon composites for efficient microwave absorption

Biomass-based porous carbon composites have received widespread attention in microwave absorption field due to sustainable sources, unique micro-nano structure, low cost. Nevertheless, it is still a huge challenge to construct biomass-derived microwave absorbers with reasonable structure and multi-component magnetic/dielectric structures in order to satisfy the conditions of advanced electromagnetic wave absorption materials. Herein, CoNi-metal-organic framework (MOF) was grown in-situ on the wood, and CoNi@wood-derived porous carbon composites (WNC) were fabricated by in situ annealing at different temperatures under a nitrogen atmosphere. When the pyrolysis temperature was 700 °C and the loading amount was 30 wt%, the optimal minimum reflection loss of WNC composites could reach −25.96 dB at 17.98 GHz with a thickness of 1.8 mm. The outstanding microwave absorbing capacity is ascribed to the interfacial polarization, conduction loss, dipolar polarization, magnetic loss, and multiple reflections. This research paves a new preparation method for excellent microwave absorption materials.

Biomass-based porous carbon from trachycarpus fortunei silk with the hierarchical oxygen-enriched structure for high performance flexible all-solid-state supercapacitor

Hierarchical porous carbons with diverse pore scales are commonly chosen as electrode materials for high-performance supercapacitors due to their excellent electrochemical properties. Herein, a novel synthetic method, dilute H2SO4 pretreatment coupling with subsequent KOH activation, is adopted to prepare hierarchical oxygen-enriched porous carbon using trachycarpus fortunei silk (TFSPC) waste as the raw material. The optimized TFSPC2 possesses a 2049 m2 g−1 specific surface area, 1.58 cm3 g−1 total pore volume, and 22.54 at% oxygen-containing doping. Benefiting from such characteristics, the TFSPC2 electrode exhibits an excellent specific capacitance of 469 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 and remarkable cycling stability of only 4.94% capacitance decay even after 20000 uninterrupted cycles in a 6 M KOH electrolyte. Furthermore, the assembled flexible symmetric supercapacitor device TFSPC2//TFSPC2 achieves a high energy density of 14.60 Wh kg−1 in a potential range of 0–1.3 V when the power density is 320 W kg−1. More importantly, the TFSPC2//TFSPC2 device demonstrates superior mechanical flexibility and maintains 88.70% capacity retention even through 2000 cycles (90°) of reduplicative bending/recovering. The research provides a low-cost, green, and renewable strategy for the synthesis of hierarchical porous carbons for supercapacitors.

Biomass-based porous carbon with surface grown MXenes for high-performance electromagnetic absorption and supercapacitor validated from structural and charge changes

Biomass-based porous carbon with surface grown MXenes for high-performance electromagnetic absorption and supercapacitor validated from structural and charge changes

Enhancement of gelatinization on electrochemical performance of corn starch-based porous carbon as electrode material in supercapacitors

Biomass-based porous carbon is extensively utilized as an electrode material for double-layer supercapacitors due to its cost effectiveness and wide availability. However, it is still a challenge to construct reasonable pore structures to prepare biomass porous carbon materials with excellent electrochemical properties. In this work, corn starch was chosen as carbon source to prepare porous carbon materials through gelatinization, pre-carbonization and activation. The impact of gelatinization temperature on the pore structure and electrochemical properties of carbon materials was thoroughly investigated. With the increase of gelatinization temperature, the small mesoporous ratio in the carbon materials firstly increases and then decreases, which is positively correlated to the changes of specific capacitance. Among all samples tested, the corn starch-based porous carbon (SAC-85-R6A7) prepared by gelatinizing at 85 °C followed by pre-carbonizing at 600 °C and activating at 700 °C exhibits exceptional electrochemical characteristics with a specific capacitance up to 386.43 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 and a retention rate of 75.81 % even at 20 A g−1. Due to its wide voltage window range from 0 to 1.1 V, the two-electrode device for SAC-85-R6A7//SAC-85-R6A7 shows an outstanding energy density of 12.94 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 277.33 W kg−1 and still retains an energy density value as substantial as 10.75 Wh kg−1 even though at 6.45 kW kg−1, and presents a capacity retention of 95.33 % after 10,000 cycles at 5 A g−1, the coulomb efficiency close to 100 %. The change of gelatinization temperature optimizes the pore size structure of the carbon material, further promotes the rapid penetration of electrolyte ions, and improves the electrochemical performance.

Self-templating synthesis of biomass-based porous carbon nanotubes for energy storage and catalytic degradation applications

Dwindling energy sources and a worsening environment are huge global problems, and biomass wastes are an under-exploited source of material for both energy and material generation. Herein, self-template decoction dregs of Ganoderma lucidum-derived porous carbon nanotubes (ST-DDLGCs) were synthesized via a facile and scalable strategy in response to these challenges. ST-DDLGCs exhibited a large surface area (1731.51 m2 g−1) and high pore volume (0.76 cm3 g−1), due to the interlacing tubular structures of precursors and extra-hierarchical porous structures on tube walls. In the ST-DDLGC/PMS system, the degradation efficiency of capecitabine (CAP) reached ∼97.3% within 120 min. Moreover, ST-DDLGCs displayed high catalytic activity over a wide pH range of 3–9, and strong anti-interference to these typical and ubiquitous anions in wastewater and natural water bodies (i.e., H2PO4−, NO3−, Cl− and HCO3−), in which a 1O2-dominated oxidation was identified and non-radical mechanisms were deduced. Additionally, ST-DDLGC-based coin-type symmetrical supercapacitors exhibited outstanding electrochemical performance, with specific capacitances of up to 328.1 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1, and cycling stability of up to 98.6% after 10,000 cycles at a current density of 2 A g−1. The superior properties of ST-DDLGCs could be attributed to the unique porous tubular structure, which facilitated mass transfer and presented numerous active sites. The results highlight ST-DDLGCs as a potential candidate for constructing inexpensive and advanced environmentally functional materials and energy storage devices.

Biomass-based porous carbon for high-performance supercapacitor electrode materials prepared from Canada goldenrod

Preparing activated carbon from biomass materials that can be used as electrode materials for supercapacitors is crucial for realizing new green energy storage and conversion technologies to fulfill environmental requirements. Herein, activated carbon was prepared via high-temperature carbonization and KOH activation using Canada goldenrod as a raw material, which is a serious threat to the ecological environment. Using this activated carbon as the active material and 6 M KOH and 1 M TEABF4/AN as the electrolytes, aqueous and organic coin-cell symmetrical supercapacitors were prepared, respectively. The specific capacitance of activated carbon was calculated to reach 320 and 123 F/g at a current density of 0.1 A/g during its testing in a two-electrode system, corresponding to energy densities of 40 and 112.1 Wh/kg, respectively. The power density of the aqueous supercapacitor was 9 KW/Kg at 10 A/g, while that of the organic supercapacitor was 12.2 KW/Kg at 5 A/g; after 10,000 cycles of the charge–discharge test, the capacity retention rate reached 93.6 % and 86.4 %, indicating the excellent electrochemical performance of the prepared supercapacitor. In addition, the specific capacitance reached 366 and 252 F/g at capacitance densities of 0.1 and 0.5 A/g, respectively, during its testing in a three-electrode system. The results of this study indicate that Canada goldenrod is a good biomass-based precursor material for preparing porous carbon for supercapacitors.

Graphite-assisted microwave carbon dioxide gasification of wet stalks

In order to realize the low-carbon gasification of the typical wet stalks, the graphite was used as the microwave-absorbing agent and the heat transfer medium in the microwave field, and CO2 was used as the gasification agent to explore the characteristics of microwave CO2 gasification. After mixing the corn stalks, the rice stalks or the wheat stalks with different water contents and the graphite in a mass ratio of 4:1, CO2 was introduced for gasification in a microwave field. Experiments showed that with the increase in the water content, the carbon conversions, the gas yields and the volume fractions of the effective components all increased slowly in the front and rear sections, and increased rapidly in the middle section. When the CO2 flow rate was 0.6 Nm3·kg−1·min−1, the carbon conversions, the gas yields and the volume fractions of the effective components all reached their peaks. It was found that the structure of the three stalks changed from smooth to porous during the intermediate process of the graphite-assisted microwave gasification. The deashed stalks with water content of 60 % was gasified in a microwave field of 700 W for 1.25 min, and the BET specific surface areas of the generated porous carbon reached 2041–2054 m2 g−1, and the volume fractions of the effective components of the gasification gas were more than 95 %. With the prolongation of the gasification time, the carbon conversions increased slowly in the early and late stages, but increased rapidly in the middle stage. The reason was that the large amount of porous carbon generated in the middle stage was the gasifiable strong microwave-absorbing agent, which greatly increased the gasification temperature and accelerated the reaction rates. When the graphite was reused 10 times, the carbon conversions could still reach more than 80 %. The XRD tests were carried out on the graphite used many times to explore its deactivation mechanism. This paper has practical significance for the low-carbon CO2 recycling of stalks biomass, and provides a new way for the preparation of biomass-based porous carbon.

Cellulose degradation of cottonseed meal derived porous carbon for supercapacitor

Enzyme, as a type of biocatalyst, has a superior degradability on the biomass component. Herein, the cellulase degradation of cottonseed meal (CCM) is used as carbon source and potassium citrate as activating agent to fabricate O, S, N co-doped carbon materials. Cellulase pretreatment degrades the cellulose (from 12.48 wt% to 2.24 wt%) of cottonseed meal (CM) as well as creates the pore structure. Most importantly, the enzymolytic process can enhance the O content and improve the activation efficiency of potassium citrate. The optimized CCM-800-2 with hierarchical porous structure and high O (11.33 at%) content exhibits a high specific capacitance of 364 F g-1 in 6 M KOH electrolyte. In addition, the assembled potassium citrate-chitosan gel electrolyte-based symmetric supercapacitor with 20 mg cm-2 mass loading of active material shows a high energy density of 28.8 Wh kg-1. This study provides an efficient enzyme assisted pretreatment and low activator ratio strategy to prepare biomass-based porous carbon, and expects to fabricate more carbon materials using other carbon precursors.

Sustainable catalytic graphitization of biomass to graphitic porous carbon by constructing permeation network with organic ligands

Common strategies for catalytic graphitization of biochar into graphitic porous carbon (GPC) still face great challenges, such as the realization of simple procedures, energy conservation, and green processes. Controlling over the graphitization degree and pore structure of biochar is the key to its structural diversification. Herein, a clean and energy-efficient method is developed to synthesize adjustable graphitic degree and structure porosity GPC from rice husk-based carbon (RHC) at a relatively low temperature of 800–1000 °C with environment-benign organometallic catalyst ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid ferric sodium salt (EDTA-iron) and the recovery ratio of catalyst is as high as 97%. The formed by the organic ligands of EDTA-iron facilitates the etching of RHC surface and pore by iron, resulting in highly graphitized and developed porous GPCs. The pore structure and graphitization degree of GPCs can be adjusted by altering the catalyst loading, temperature, and holding time. The catalyst EDTA-iron with a lower concentration mainly plays the role of etching, which promotes the formation of porous carbon with larger surface area (SBET = 1187.2 m2·g−1). The catalyst with higher concentration mainly plays the role of catalyzing graphitization and promotes the obtaining of graphitic carbon with high graphitization degree (ID/IG = 0.19). The mechanism of EDTA-iron catalyzed graphitization of RHC is explored by the comprehensive analysis of BET, XRD, Raman, TEM and TGA. This research not only provides an efficient method for the preparation of high-quality biomass-based graphite carbon, but also provides a feasible method for the preparation of biomass-based porous carbon.