Biomass-derived Porous Carbon Research Articles

Biomass nanostructure: Cattail leaves derived-porous carbon with high electrochemical performance for Zn-ion hybrid supercapacitors

Biomass-derived porous carbon possesses several advantageous characteristics, such as low cost, inherent properties, and a controllable structure, making it an ideal electrode material for Zn-ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZIHSs). In this investigation, we used cattail leaves (CLs) as the carbon source and employed carbonization and activation techniques to fabricate porous carbon. We aimed to explore the correlation between the morphology, oxygen content, and defects in porous carbon derived from CLs under varying K2CO3 ratios. Remarkably, when the K2CO3/carbon ratio was adjusted to 2:1, the resulting porous carbon from CLs exhibited outstanding electrochemical performance in ZIHSs. These ZIHSs, functioning in an aqueous electrolyte, displayed impressive rate capability, achieving 158.3 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1 and 60.2 mAh g−1 at 20 A g−1, along with a high energy density of 119.5 Wh kg−1. Furthermore, they exhibited exceptional long-term durability with nearly 100 % coulombic efficiency over 10,000 cycles. Additionally, a quasi-solid-state ZIHSs device demonstrated satisfactory specific capacity (148.54 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1) and maintained stability under various orientations. The abundant, renewable, and cost-efficient biomass-derived carbon obtained in this study serves as a valuable guide for the development of portable energy storage devices that are both low in cost and high in performance, thereby contributing to sustainable energy solutions.

The Impact of Biomass-Derived Graphene-like Porous Carbon Decorated with NiO Nanoparticles on the Electrochemical Performance of Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Lithium-sulfur batteries are considered a promising next-generation energy storage system, boasting high theoretical capacity and energy density, approximately double that of LiBs [1,2]. However, challenges such as low sulfur conductivity, significant volume expansion during cycling, and the lithium polysulfides shuttle effect hinder their practical use [3]. These issues result in side reactions, irreversible loss of active material, and anode degradation, leading to a rapid decline in cell capacity stability [4].In this research, we successfully developed a sulfur cathode carbon matrix and separator modifier from rice husk through carbonization and thermal activation. The resulting graphene-like porous carbon (GPC) exhibited high efficiency as a sulfur host, enhancing the electrochemical performance of the cathode. The GPC-NiO composite also served effectively as a separator modifier, catalyzing lithium polysulfides' redox reactions and improving the overall cycling stability of lithium-sulfur batteries. In particular, the GPC@S/GPC-NiO-20 cell demonstrated an excellent initial discharge capacity of 1519 mAh g-1 at 0.2 C. Also, it delivered excellent long-term cycling, maintaining a discharge capacity of 661 mAh g-1 even after 400 cycles at 1 C, with a Coulombic efficiency exceeding 97%. It exhibited a promising rate capability of 568 mAh g-1 at 2 C and retained a discharge capacity of 603 mAh g-1 over 100 cycles at 0.2 C with a sulfur loading of 4.0 mg cm-2. Acknowledgments This research is funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Grant No. AP19677708).

Systematic study of the N concentration effects on metal-free ORR electrocatalysts derived from corncob: Less is more

We report nitrogen-doped biomass-derived porous carbon materials with great performance for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) in alkaline media. The level of nitrogen doping in a simple pyrolysis of corncob (CC) was varied systematically, a 1:1 CC:urea ratio (CC1U) gave the best performance in terms of onset potential (Eonset = 0.97 V vs. RHE), maximum current density (jmax = -3.22 mA cm−2), hydroperoxide ion yield (%HO2– = 1.18 % at 0.5 V), and electron transfer number (n = 3.86 at 0.5 V). Unexpectedly, for higher CC:urea ratios the doping decreases, instead of plateauing, with lower concentration of C-N sites and more sp2 sites as determined by XPS, as well as lower specific surface area (SSA), while increasing both porosity and carbon (002) interplanar distance (d(002)). These materials should be durable and robust, since their performance actually improved after accelerated degradation tests. This study proves that renewable “waste” can be upconverted into metal-free electrocatalysts for electrochemical energy conversion technologies and emphasizes the need for studying and controlling doping levels to enhance performance.

Pyrolytic conversion of Mesua ferrea testa to nitrogen-doped porous carbon for supercapacitor applications

Developing a high energy density supercapacitor is of great challenge due to the low surface area of commercial activated carbon. The present work aims at developing highly porous nitrogen-doped porous carbon from biomass for supercapacitors. Herein, Mesua ferrea (Nahor) shells, a widely available biomass in northeast India, was used to prepare porous carbon. The effect of activation temperature on structural, textural properties, and electrochemical performance is studied. The carbonization temperature highly influenced the pore structure, porosity, surface area, and thereby influencing the electrochemical performance. The porous carbon pyrolyzed at 700 °C delivered a high specific capacitance of 210 F g-1 at 1 A g-1, higher than porous carbon made at higher temperature (27.5 F g-1 at 1 A g-1 for carbon pyrolyzed at 800 °C). The results provide insights that will be of use in the development of high-energy-density capacitors employing biomass-derived porous carbon.

Efficient CO2 removal enabled by N, S co-doped hierarchical porous carbon derived from sustainable lignin

Biomass-derived heteroatoms-doped hierarchical porous carbon materials are highly regarded as promising CO2 adsorbents. However, these materials cannot simultaneously exhibit advanced porosity, high yield, and high heteroatom content. Herein, a series of N, S co-doped hierarchical porous carbons with advanced porosity (narrow micropore: 0.37–0.42 cm3/g), high heteroatom content (N content: 8.54 at% and 8.87 wt% and S content: 0.86 at% and 1.73 wt%) and remarkable yield (57.12–69.13 wt%) was produced using lignin as the raw material via a synergistic strategy involving melamine modification and CuCl2 activation. Notably, melamine modification not only introduced mesopores, but also promoted the effect of CuCl2 activation to generate additional micropores. Importantly, the advanced porosity required a low dosage of CuCl2. The optimized adsorbent (NHPC-850) exhibits outstanding CO2 adsorption capacity (6.87 mmol/g at 273 K and 100 kPa, 3.57 mmol/g at 303 K and 100 kPa), a moderately high heat of adsorption (34.7 kJ/mol), and an extraordinary CO2/N2 selectivity (132 at 273 K/81 at 303 K). These excellent properties are attributed to the well-developed micropores and suitable mesopores of carbon materials, as well as rich nitrogen and sulfur functionality in the carbon structure. Collectively, this work offers new insights into a simple and easy-to-scale strategy for the preparation of biomass-derived N, S co-doped hierarchical porous carbon.

Encapsulating Selenium into Biomass-Derived Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon As the Cathode for Sodium–Selenium and Potassium–Selenium Batteries

Encapsulating Selenium into Biomass-Derived Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon As the Cathode for Sodium–Selenium and Potassium–Selenium Batteries

Boosting sodium storage performance of biomass-derived porous carbon anodes by surface functionalized strategy

In order to enhance the sodium ion storage performance of biomass-derived carbon anode materials, a surface functionalization strategy was employed through a simple acid etching method on porous carbon. The resulting functionalized carbon exhibits a hierarchically porous structure, expanded interlayer spacing, and oxygen-containing functional groups. The redox reactions occurring at the surface between Na ions and carbonyl groups provide additional sites for sodium ion storage, thereby improving cycling capacity and rate capability. Theoretical calculations and electrochemical tests further demonstrate that the functionalized carbon can increase the surface-controlled sodium storage capacity by modifying the transport and adsorption processes of sodium ions. After 200 cycles at a current density of 100 mA g−1, the carbon anode, which was surface-functionalized with an etching time of 6 h, achieve a high reversible capacity of 273 mA h g−1. Furthermore, it displays improved rate performance with a capacity of 194 mA h g−1 at a high current density of 2 A g−1 for sodium-ion batteries. This study introduces an effective and general strategy for the cost-effective and large-scale synthesis of carbon anode materials for sodium-ion batteries.

Insight into the influence of part in cattails on electrochemical performance of the porous carbon for Zn-ion storage

Recently, biomass-derived porous carbon has gained popularity as a cathode material for Zn-ion hybrid supercapacitor (ZIHSs) due to its unique structure and heteroatoms. However, the understanding of how biomass part affects resulting carbon structure and ZIHSs performance is limited. This study utilizes cattail leaves (CLs), cattail wools (CWs), and cattail stems (CSs) as carbon sources, with each impacting carbon microstructure, morphology, specific surface area (SSA), and oxygen content. CLs-based porous carbon (CLPC) exhibits a distinct hollow tube structure with thinner walls, high oxygen content, and a large SSA, which are crucial for enhanced electrochemical performance. The aqueous Zn//CLPC ZIHSs demonstrate remarkable energy density (190 Wh kg−1), specific capacity (253 mAh/g at 0.1 A/g), and cycle life (91% capacity retention over 10,000 cycles at 10 A/g). Electrochemical processes are studied through various techniques, shedding light on the relationship between cattail parts, carbon structure, and ZIHSs performance, aiding in more efficient biomass utilization.

Interconnected Pd Nanowire Networks Stereoassembled on Biomass-Derived Porous Carbon Skeletons as Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Efficient Methanol and Formic Acid Oxidation

Interconnected Pd Nanowire Networks Stereoassembled on Biomass-Derived Porous Carbon Skeletons as Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Efficient Methanol and Formic Acid Oxidation

Synthesis of natural heteroatom co-doped porous carbon by co-pyrolysis of kapok tree and peanut bran coupled with microwave activation

The application of biomass-derived porous carbon in supercapacitors should focus on heteroatom doping and modulation of pore structure. This work presented a technique for synthesizing natural heteroatom co-doped porous carbon by co-pyrolysis coupled with microwave activation of the kapok tree (KT) and peanut bran (PB). PB is a natural heteroatom donor and a precursor of porous carbon. Some S-containing radicals and N-containing functional groups in PB are successfully retained in the biochar, facilitating heteroatom doping in NHDPC. When the mixing ratio of KT and PB is 1:1, the mesoporous volume of NHDPC-5PB can reach 1.81 cm3/g. Relative to the porous carbon NHDPC-0PB synthesized solely through KT pyrolysis, the mesoporous volume of NHDPC-5PB increases by 74.04 %. Moreover, the specific capacitance of NHDPC-5PB at 0.2 A/g attains 346.8 F/g, which is a 36.6 % increase compared to NHDPC-0PB. This study presents a new strategy to prepare natural heteroatom co-doped porous carbon by co-pyrolysis of heteroatom-rich biomass as a heteroatom donor with lignocellulosic biomass.

Preparation of manganese/nitrogen-sulfur carbon electrodes from black liquor of bamboo pulp for supercapacitors

Biomass-derived porous carbons from low-cost lignin are the promising candidate electrode for aqueous supercapacitors. Notably, the poor charge storage ability severely hinders the industrial production. The sodium lignosulphonate was firstly prepared by methylsulfonation with formaldehyde (HCHO) and sodium sulfite (Na2SO3). Then, lignin-based N-S co-doped porous carbon materials (LNSC) were prepared via one-step carbonization with sodium lignosulphonate as raw material and urea as a nitrogen source dopant and mild activator. And, MnCO3 nanowires were prepared and loaded on LNSC to fabricate manganese/nitrogen-sulfur carbon composites (LNSC/Mn-x) with high electrochemical performance. The prepared LNSC/Mn-40 was dominated by micro-mesopores with a total pore volume of 1.01 cm3 g−1 and a specific surface area of up to 770.68 m2 g−1. In a three-electrode system, LNSC/Mn-40 showed a specific capacitance of 234.92 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 in 6 M KOH electrolyte, greatly better than LNSC (151.98 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1), while the symmetric supercapacitor demonstrated a maximum energy density of 7.21 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 5765 W kg−1 along with good cycling stability of 69.77 % capacitance retention for up to 10,000 cycles. The results suggested that lignin can be considered as an ideal candidate for porous carbon electrode for supercapacitors and reduce industrial production cost.

Nitrogen and Sulfur Co-doped Biomass-Derived Porous Carbon Electrodes for Ultra-High-Performance All-Aqueous Thermally Regenerative Flow Batteries.

Developing high-performance electrodes for the all-aqueous thermally regenerative ammonia battery (ATRB) system, serving as superior substitutes for commercial carbon cloth electrodes, is anticipated to enhance performance, yet it lacks effective guidance and research. In this work, theoretical analysis is initially used to evaluate the effective conversion and adsorption capacity of nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon with respect to copper ion by density functional theory calculation. On the basis of this concept, the nitrogen and sulfur co-doped biomass-derived porous carbon electrode (DGC) is prepared using natural porous carbon materials and thiourea. Compared with commercial carbon cloth electrodes, ATRB with DGC achieves a significant improvement in maximum power density of 49.2%. Via optimization of the doping conditions, the active sites can be effectively regulated to boost charge transfer at the reaction interface. Furthermore, the rapid charge transfer can match the excellent mass transfer performance, generating an impressive net power density of 847.5 W/m2.

Ni-Decorated N-Doped Biomass-Derived Porous Carbon toward Efficient Electroreduction of CO2 to CO

Ni-Decorated N-Doped Biomass-Derived Porous Carbon toward Efficient Electroreduction of CO₂ to CO

Machine Learning-Guided Prediction of Desalination Capacity and Rate of Porous Carbons for Capacitive Deionization.

Nowadays, capacitive deionization (CDI) has emerged as a prominent technology in the desalination field, typically utilizing porous carbons as electrodes. However, the precise significance of electrode properties and operational conditions in shaping desalination performance remains blurry, necessitating numerous time-consuming and resource-intensive CDI experiments. Machine learning (ML) presents an emerging solution, offering the prospect of predicting CDI performance with minimal investment in electrode material synthesis and testing. Herein, four ML models are used for predicting the CDI performance of porous carbons. Among them, the gradient boosting model delivers the best performance on test set with low root mean square error values of 2.13mg g-1 and 0.073mg g-1 min-1 for predicting desalination capacity and rate, respectively. Furthermore, SHapley Additive exPlanations is introduced to analyze the significance of electrode properties and operational conditions. It highlights that electrolyte concentration and specific surface area exert a substantially more influential role in determining desalination performance compared to other features. Ultimately, experimental validation employing metal-organic frameworks-derived porous carbons and biomass-derived porous carbons as CDI electrodes is conducted to affirm the prediction accuracy of ML models. This study pioneers ML techniques for predicting CDI performance, offering a compelling strategy for advancing CDI technology.

Long/short-range ordered porous carbon with interconnected structure for high performance supercapacitor

Coal-derived porous carbon has a long-range ordered structure that facilitates the speedy transfer of electrons, but it has fewer pores and sluggish electrolyte ion transport. On the contrary, the short-range ordered and amorphous structure of biomass-derived porous carbon hinders rapid electron transfer, but it is rich in pores, and electrolyte ions can be transported rapidly. Herein, we merge the long-range ordered structure of coal with the short-range ordered structure of cotton stalk to generate long/short-range ordered porous carbon with an interconnected structure. Benefiting from the interaction between coal and cotton stalks in the thermal decomposition process, the prepared sample shows long- and short-range ordered hybrid structure, a honeycomb-shaped structure, a substantial specific surface area (1278 m2 g−1) and a suitable mesoporous structure. Hence, the optimum sample exhibits a noteworthy specific capacitance (307 F g−1 at 1 A g−1), exceptional cycling stability over the long term, and a 64 % capacitance retention at 50 A g−1. Additionally, the sample also demonstrates exceptional energy storage performance in a symmetric two-electrode system (8.1 Wh kg−1 at 250 W kg−1). This paper presents a simple and effective method for preparing long/short-range ordered porous carbon materials.

Co-doping mechanism of biomass-derived nitrogen-boron porous carbon and its applications in energy storage and environmental purification

In this paper, we aim to design and synthesize a low-cost, multifunctional and efficient electrode and adsorbent material (nitrogen doped and nitrogen-boron co-doped) by combinatorial doping of heteroatoms using cherry blossoms (Prunus yedoensis) as biomass feedstock. The differences in morphology and structure of the two materials due to the doping of boron atoms were analyzed. Among them, the nitrogen-boron co-doped porous carbon NBKCC had a hierarchical porous structure with a shape similar to that of carbon microspheres and a specific surface area as high as 1184 m2/g. In the three-electrode system, the specific capacitance of the assembled electrodes was 337.5 F/g (current density: 0.5 A/g). In the NBKCC symmetric capacitor test, the energy density could reach 15.1 Wh/kg at a power density of 420.5 W/kg. After 10,000 charge/discharge cycles, the capacitance retention was 96.98 % (5 A/g), which showed good stability. In addition, we evaluated the adsorption capacity of carbon microspheres for malachite green, rhodamine B, and methylene blue. Among them, the maximum adsorption of malachite green in a single system was 572.4 mg/g. Based on this, we demonstrated the feasibility and preparation of porous carbon materials by combinatorial doping with heteroatoms using biomass waste cherry blossoms as carbon substrates.

Eco-friendly preparation of nitrogen-doped porous carbon materials for enhanced solid-state supercapacitor device

In the last years, researchers all over the world have been looking for biomass-derived porous carbon materials, due to the possibilities for large-scale synthesis, easy to control the pore structure, and high specific surface area. Activated heteroatom doped porous carbon (AHPC) with a high porosity was made by treating inexpensive waste Ficus elastica leaves with a base. The electrochemical performance of the produced activated carbon has been evaluated in various electrolytes, including basic, neutral, and acidic electrolytes. At a current density of 1 A/g in the acidic electrolyte, the specific capacitance of the activated carbon AHPC electrode is higher, 456 F/g, compared to other electrolytes. The symmetric supercapacitor device is built using PVA-H2SO4 gel electrolyte, and its electrochemical performance is evaluated. In addition, the energy density of the built symmetric supercapacitor device is higher than the existing commercial supercapacitors, achieving 62 Wh/kg at a power density of 15.2 kW/kg. This is because the porous carbon has a hierarchical pore distribution and a heteroatom-enriched structure, which allows for rapid charge/mass diffusion channels, and a vast ion-accessible network.

Biomass-derived sulfur-doped porous carbon for CO2 and CH4 selective adsorption

Series of sulfur-doped porous carbons were prepared by using glucose as carbon source and sodium dodecyl sulfate as sulfur source to synthesize sulfur-based carbon precursor and KOH as activator. Pore structure parameters and sulfur content of the prepared carbon materials could be facility regulated by controlling the ratio of KOH/sulfur-based carbon precursor and activation temperature, and their adsorptive separation properties towards CO2 and CH4 were investigated. Results showed that the higher the ultra-microporous volume and the S content of the prepared sulfur-doped porous carbon were, the larger the CO2 and the CH4 adsorption capacity were. The maximum adsorption capacity of CO2 (6.54 mmol/g, 273.15 K and 101 kPa, hereinafter) and CH4 (2.98 mmol/g), and the excellent selectivity of CO2/N2 (75.7) and CH4/N2 (22.8) were achieved by ACS-700-2 because of its higher ultra-microporous pore volume and the highest S content. Permeation experiment, cycle stability test and adsorption thermodynamics experiment show that the prepared S-doped porous carbon had good application potential in the separation and enrichment of CO2 in flue gas and CH4 in coalbed methane. In addition, the pore formation mechanism of sulfur-doped porous carbon was discussed.

Direct activation and hydrophobic modification of biomass-derived hierarchical porous carbon for toluene adsorption under high humidity

Hierarchical porous starch-based carbon (PSC) with tunable pore structure (surface area 1974 ∼ 2721 m2/g and pore volume 0.80 ∼ 1.74 cm3/g) was prepared through direct activation. Due to its high surface area and large pore volume, PSC shows great potential for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) removal. Water vapor commonly exists along with VOCs and the competitive adsorption between VOCs and water vapor would significantly restrict the VOCs adsorption of PSC under high humidity. To address this issue, hydrophobic porous starch-based carbon composite (PSCC) was also prepared by physically mixing PSC with poly-divinylbenzene (PDVB) for toluene adsorption under high humidity to suppress the influence of water vapor. As relative humidity increased from 0 % to 80 %, the toluene adsorption capacity of PSC-2 decreased by 46 % while PSCC only experienced a decrease of 22 %. PSCC could also maintain its toluene adsorption performance (close to 100 %) after five adsorption–desorption cycles. Theoretical computations were also proved that the addition of PDVB inhibits water vapor adsorption and promotes its desorption, thereby enhancing the toluene adsorption of PSCC under high humidity. This work provides a controllable preparation and facile modification of porous carbon to improve its toluene adsorption under high humidity, offering a great application prospect for VOCs removal.

Sustainable synthesis of spongy-like porous carbon for supercapacitive energy storage systems towards pollution control.

In this study, the fruit of Terminalia chebula, commonly known as chebulic myrobalan, is used as the precursor for carbon for its application in supercapacitors. The Terminalia chebula biomass-derived sponge-like porous carbon (TC-SPC) is synthesized using a facile and economical method of pyrolysis. TC-SPC thus obtained is subjected to XRD, FESEM, TEM, HRTEM, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, ATR-FTIR, and nitrogen adsorption-desorption analyses for their structural and chemical composition. The examination revealed that TC-SPC has a crystalline nature and a mesoporous and microporous structure accompanied by a disordered carbon framework that is doped with heteroatoms such as nitrogen and sulfur. Electrochemical studies are performed on TC-SPC using cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. TC-SPC contributed a maximum specific capacitance of 145 F g-1 obtained at 1 A g-1. The cyclic stability of TC-SPC is significant with 10,000 cycles, maintaining the capacitance retention value of 96%. The results demonstrated that by turning the fruit of Terminalia chebula into an opulent product, a supercapacitor, TC-SPC generated from biomass has proven to be a potential candidate for energy storage application.