Biomass-derived Porous Carbon Research Articles

Controlling the growth of ZnNiMoSx on biomass-derived porous carbon materials for deep hydrodesulfurization

Controlling the growth of small-sized catalysts with more accessible active sites and low cost is of great significance to promote their hydrodesulfurization (HDS) performance. Herein, we have synthesized an efficient ZnNiMoSx/C composite catalyst by using biomass-derived porous carbon as the support. With ZnCl2 to regulate porous structure, the obtained carbon support presents an enhanced specific surface area (1581.1 m2/g), which promotes the dispersion of ZnNiMoSx catalysts. The ZnNiMoSx on ZnNiMoSx/C-3 shows fewer layers (2–4 layers) and shorter length (about 4–5 nm), indicating more corner and edge active sites. Besides, the addition of Zn species improves the sulfurization degree of ZnNiMoSx and provides more sulfur vacancies for the enhanced HDS performance. The synthesized ZnNiMoSx/C-3 catalyst shows the kHDS value of dibenzothiophene to be 39.42 × 10−7 mol/(g s) and the direct desulfurization selectivity up to 94.5 %. This study provides a new thought for the development of HDS catalysts with cheap biomass-derived materials.

Inorganic Skeleton Reinforcement-A Generic Approach to Improve the Mechanical Properties of Biochar.

Biochar is considered as a promising candidate for emerging sustainable energy systems and environmental technology applications. However, the improvement of mechanical properties remains challenges. Herein, we propose a generic strategy to enhance the mechanical properties of bio-based carbon materials through inorganic skeleton reinforcement. As a proof-of-concept, silane, geopolymer, and inorganic gel are selected as precursors. The composites' structures are characterized and an inorganic skeleton reinforcement mechanism is elucidated. Specifically, two types of reinforcement of the silicon-oxygen skeleton network formed in situ with biomass pyrolysis and the silica-oxy-al-oxy network are constructed to improve the mechanical properties. A significant improvement in mechanical strength was achieved for bio-based carbon materials. The compressive strength of well-balanced porous carbon materials modified by silane can reach up to 88.9 kPa, geopolymer-modified carbon material exhibits an enhanced compressive strength of 36.8 kPa, and that of inorganic-gel-polymer-modified carbon material is 124.6 kPa. Moreover, the prepared carbon materials with enhanced mechanical properties show excellent adsorption performance and high reusability for organic pollutant model compound methylene blue dye. This work demonstrates a promising and universal strategy for enhancing the mechanical properties of biomass-derived porous carbon materials.

Novel Solanum torvum Fruit Biomass-Derived Hierarchical Porous Carbon Nanosphere as Excellent Electrode Material for Enhanced Symmetric Supercapacitor Performance

Novel Solanum torvum Fruit Biomass-Derived Hierarchical Porous Carbon Nanosphere as Excellent Electrode Material for Enhanced Symmetric Supercapacitor Performance

Hierarchical porous carbon nanoarchitectonics with honeycomb-like and N, P co-doped features for flexible symmetric supercapacitors and high-efficiency dye removal

In this study, we prepared a variety of hierarchical porous carbon (NPy-HPC) nanoarchitectonics with honeycomb-like and nitrogen‑phosphorus co-doping features utilizing a combination of self-doping and external doping ways to maximally improve the properties of biomass-derived porous carbon. The as-obtained NP1.0-HPC possesses an appropriate heteroatom content (3.15 at.% for nitrogen and 0.3 at.% for phosphorous), high specific surface area of 2141 m2 g−1 and total pore volume of 1.04 cm3 g−1, making it a potentially bifunctional material for electrochemical energy storage and dye removal applications. The free-standing NP1.0-HPC electrode exhibits excellent electrochemical performance with a high specific capacitance of 378.8 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 and a good rate capability of 271.6 F g−1 when increasing the current density to 20 A g−1. The NP1.0-HPC//NP1.0-HPC symmetrical supercapacitor as well displays a desirable energy density of 17.7 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 440 W kg−1. Besides, NP1.0-HPC shows well removal capability for various kinds of dyes, among which the cationic dye methylene blue and the anionic dye methyl orange with the uptake of 666.9 and 360.9 mg g−1, respectively. Our work proposes a facile and cost-effective strategy for the exploration and development of superior performance controllable three-dimensional (3D) laminated porous carbon nanoarchitectonics.

Fomes fomentarius as a Bio-Template for Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Fibers for Symmetrical Supercapacitors

Nowadays, commercial electric double-layer supercapacitors mainly use porous activated carbons due to their high specific surface area, electrical conductivity, and chemical stability. A feature of carbon materials is the possibility of obtaining them from renewable plant biomass. In this study, fungi (Fomes fomentarius) were used as a bio-template for the preparation of carbon fibers via a combination of thermochemical conversion approaches, including a general hydrothermal pre-carbonization step, as well as subsequent carbonization, physical, or chemical activation. The relationships between the preparation conditions and the structural and electrochemical properties of the obtained carbon materials were determined using SEM, TEM, EDAX, XPS, cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic measurements, and EIS. It was shown that hydrothermal pretreatment in the presence of phosphoric acid ensured the complete removal of inorganic impurities of raw fungus hyphae, but at the same time, saved some heteroatoms, such as O, N, and P. Chemical activation using H3PO4 increased the amount of phosphorus in the carbon material and saved the natural fungus’s structure. The combination of a hierarchical pore structure with O, N, and P heteroatom doping made it possible to achieve good electrochemical properties (specific capacitance values of 220 F/g) and excellent stability after 25,000 charge/discharge cycles in a three-electrode cell. The electrochemical performance in both three- and two-electrode cells exceeded or was comparable to other biomass-derived porous carbons, making it a prospective candidate as an electrode material in symmetrical supercapacitors.

Morphology engineering of biomass-derived porous carbon from 3D to 2D towards boosting capacitive charge storage capability

Carbon morphology significantly affects the capacitive performance of porous carbons. Biomass-derived porous carbons are usually restricted by inferior capacitive performance owing to their inherently three-dimensional (3D) blocked morphologies. Fabricating two-dimensional (2D) sheet-like morphology is expected to expose more inner space for better electrochemical performance, however, it needs to overcome the self-aggregation of biomass. The comprehensive understanding of how 2D morphology boosts capacitive performance remains challenging. Herein, we provide a morphology-regulating strategy to prepare 2D and 3D porous carbons and investigate the morphology effect on charge storage capability via both experimental data and theoretical simulations. 2D carbon exhibits better capacitance than 3D carbon in both electric double-layer capacitors (254 versus 211F g−1) and zinc-ion hybrid supercapacitors (320 versus 232F g−1), because the 2D carbon morphology not only improves the pore accessibility for higher double-layer capacitance, but also facilitates the exposure of active functional groups for more pseudocapacitance. Moreover, 2D morphology shortens pore length, leading to better anti-self-discharge capability. This study is beneficial to understanding the relationship between carbon morphology and capacitive performance and provides a facile strategy to upgrade biomass-derived porous carbons via morphology engineering.

Research Progress on the Application of Biomass-Based Porous Carbon Materials in Lithium Battery Electrode

With the growth of the world population, limited non-renewable energy sources, oil and coal mine are becoming increasingly exhausted. The long-term consumption of fossil energy not only causes an energy crisis, but also makes ecological and environmental problems more significant. Therefore, lithium batteries, as an energy storage tool, have been studied by a number of researchers due to their advantages such as high specific energy, little environmental pollution and long cycle life. For secondary batteries, the performance of electrode materials affects the development of batteries. Biomass-derived porous carbon materials have the advantages of cheap, easy-to-obtain from raw materials, large specific surface area, many pore structures, strong electrical conductivity, adjustable pore structure, and have been widely concerned in recent years and used as electrode materials for energy storage lithium batteries application. In the process of charging and discharging lithium batteries, porous carbon materials can provide more space for lithium ions to be embedded and removed from the electrode, improving the capacity and thus the efficiency of the battery. In this paper, the main preparation technology of biomass-derived carbon materials and the improvement technology of heteroatom doping are reviewed. The application effects of different activation methods on the porous carbon materials prepared by plant materials in the negative electrode of lithium battery are compared, and the performance of the materials in practical application is evaluated in the paper, which provides reference materials for the beginners of using biomass structure to prepare porous carbon materials.

Constructing nano CdS-decorated porous biomass-derived carbon for multi-channel synergetic photocatalytic hydrogen evolution under solar lighting

Developing noble-metal-free photocatalysts for boosting photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) under solar lighting has long been desired. In this work, hierarchical heteroarchitectures comprised of zero-dimensional (0D) hexagonal CdS nanoparticles (NPs) with 60 nm in size decorating onto 3D porous biomass-derived carbon (PBC) honeycomb-like architectures are fabricated by a microwave-assisted aqueous chemical reaction, where PBC is derived from the agriculture discarded bagasse. The significantly boosted photocatalytic hydrogen generation of CdS/PBC composite is ascribed to the multi-channel synergetic effect on the heteroarchitectures with the closely interfacial connection, as a result of increasing the wide-spectrum solar absorption, promoting the photoinduced charges migration rate, and accelerating kinetically the mass-transfer efficiency by the photothermal effect. The H2-evolving efficiency over the optimal CdS/PBC-3 achieves 14.67 mmol∙g−1∙h−1 under simulated solar irradiation, which is 43.1 times higher than that of pure CdS counterpart. The maximum apparent quantum efficiency over CdS/PBC-3 is 22.68% at 420 nm. The step-scheme (S-scheme) electron transfer pathway for CdS/PBC is proposed based on the band energy alignments. This work develops a new way to fabricate non-precious biochar composites for efficient conversion of solar energy in photocatalysis.

Durable superhydrophobic/superoleophilic melamine foam based on biomass-derived porous carbon and multi-walled carbon nanotube for oil/water separation

In the present study, fabrications of two eco-friendly superhydrophobic/superoleophilic recyclable foamy-based adsorbents for oil/water mixture separation were developed. Hierarchically biomass (celery)-derived porous carbon (PC) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) were firstly synthesized and loaded on pristine melamine foam (MF) by the simple dip-coating approach by combining silicone adhesive to create superhydrophobic/superoleophilic, recyclable, and reusable three-dimensional porous structure. The prepared samples have a large specific surface area of 240 m2/g (MWCNT), 1126 m2/g (PC), and good micro-mesoporous frameworks. The water contact angle (WCA) values of the as-prepared foams, PC/MF and MWCNT/MF, not only were 159.34° ± 1.9° and 156.42° ± 1.6°, respectively but also had oil contact angle (OCA) of equal to 0° for a wide range of oils and organic solvents. Therefore, PC/MF and MWCNT/MF exhibited superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity properties, which can be considered effective adsorbents in oil/water mixture separations. In this context, superhydrophobic/superoleophilic prepared foams for kind of different oils and organic solvents were shown to have superior separation performance ranges of 54–143 g/g and 46–137 g/g for PC/MF and MWCNT/MF, respectively, suggesting a new effective porous material for separating oil spills. Also, outstanding recyclability and reusability of these structures in the ten adsorption-squeezing cycles indicated that the WCA and sorption capacity has not appreciably changed after soaking into acidic (pH = 2) and alkaline (pH = 12) as well as saline (3.5% NaCl) solutions. More importantly, the reusability and chemical durability of the superhydrophobic samples made them good opportunities for use in different harsh conditions for oil-spill cleanup.

Fe and N dual doped porous carbon derived from waste biomass as an effective catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Developing a cathode catalyst with low-cost, facile preparation process and good electrocatalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is critical to the application of fuel cell. In this study, a feasible approach for the sustainable synthesis of Fe and N dual-doped porous biomass-derived carbon catalyst (Fe-NPC) was demonstrated, with passion fruit peels as the carbon precursor, FeCl3 and melamine as the activators. Fe-NPC exhibits hierarchically porous structure with large specific surface area (1456.5 m2g−1), and the Fe, N distribute homogeneously in the entire architecture of Fe-NPC. The material shows comparable electrocatalytic activity (E1/2 = 0.872 V) and superior stability for ORR to commercial Pt/C (20 wt%) in alkaline electrolyte.

Iron phthalocyanine decorated porous biomass-derived carbon as highly effective electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Searching for a low-cost, high-activity and stable nonprecious metal electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is critical to the application of energy conversion devices, such as zinc-air batteries and proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Herein, renewable and inexpensive black locust leaves were used as carbon and nitrogen precursors to prepare porous biomass-derived carbon (PBC) using K2FeO4 as the activator and then decorated by iron phthalocyanine (FePc) with a free-pyrolysis process to obtain the electrocatalyst FePcx/PBC. Notably, the as-obtained PBC possesses a large specific surface area and hierarchically porous structure, facilitating the exposure of active sites and diffusion of O2 as well as the electrolytes during the ORR process. Compared with commercial Pt/C, the half-wave potential (E1/2 =0.91 V) and limiting current density (JL=5.03 mA·cm−2) of FePc0.5/PBC positively shifted nearly 70 mV and increased 0.44 mA·cm−2, respectively, and an obvious enhancement in stability and tolerance to methanol can be observed. Moreover, the assembled zinc-air battery using FePc0.5/PBC as the air-cathode catalyst exhibits an open-circuit voltage of 1.452 V and a specific capacity of 812.1 mAh·g−1, much higher than those of Pt/C (1.435 V, 749.4 mAh·g−1). This work develops a feasible, convenient and economic strategy to fabricate effective Pt-free ORR electrocatalysts for relevant energy conversion devices.

Boosting energy density of the aqueous supercapacitors by employing trifluoroacetic acid as a novel high voltage electrolyte

An effective way to increase the energy density of supercapacitors is to develop stable electrolytes with high operating potential. In this work, trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) is first employed as an aqueous acidic electrolyte with a stable operating potential of 1.4 V, a 40 % improvement in operating potential is achieved compared to the traditional acidic aqueous electrolyte. To match the TFA electrolyte, a biomass-derived hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) with a tailored pore size and ultra-large specific surface area of up to 3649.4 m2 g−1 is fabricated, which delivers a surprising specific capacitance of up to 625 F g−1 at 1 A g−1. The symmetric supercapacitor device built up by using the TFA electrolyte and the prepared electrode material can be operated stably at 1.4 V and reserve 96.6 % of initial specific capacitance after 30,000 cycles. Meanwhile, a large energy density of 19.5 Wh kg−1 at 347 W kg−1 and 19.49 Wh kg−1 at 340 W kg−1 can be delivered for the assembled normal symmetric supercapacitor and the solid-state supercapacitor, respectively. Compared to the supercapacitors using the conventional H2SO4 electrolyte, the energy density of the supercapacitor using the TFA electrolyte can be enhanced by 2.26 times without sacrificing the high-power density and outstanding cycle stability. The remarkable improvement in energy density for aqueous supercapacitors by this simple and feasible method would contribute to promoting their practical application in modern electrochemical energy storage systems.

Visualizing sub-layer structural transformation in carbonized wood tracheid by Raman mapping

Characterizing the pore structure evolution of biomass-derived carbon during processing and exploring the relationship between the porous carbon structure and the intrinsic micro-structure of biomass precursor are of great importance to advance the knowledge of pore creation/evolution mechanism and manufacture demanded pore structures by controlled processing. So far, the manipulation of pore structure still heavily relies on trial-and-error approach due to the lack understanding of the relationship between precursor structure/composition and the pore evolution during processing. In this work, the micro-structural evolution across the multi-layered wood tracheid in carbonization and oxidation processes was revealed by Raman mapping which can provide a unique insight into the pore structure evolution of carbon materials. The different degrees of graphitization enable the differentiation of carbonized forms of lignin and cellulose by Raman mapping and thus quantify the changes of both species during carbonization and oxidation. It is revealed that micropore formation is more related to the degradation of lignin and mesopore formation is closely associated with cellulose. The diffusion of reactive gas through the multi-layered wood tracheid and the corresponding reactions occurred along the diffusion path create the comprehensive porous channels. This work provides a new and convenient method to get a comprehensive understanding of biomass structure/composition in related to the pore structure evolution and allows a more specific regulation of pore structure in biomass-derived porous carbon materials.

CoO embedded porous biomass-derived carbon as dual-functional host material for lithium-sulfur batteries

A new strategy is developed to fabricate sulfur electrode by infusing sulfur into a conductive biochar decorated with highly dispersed CoO nanoparticles. The loading of the CoO nanoparticles, as the active sites for reactions, is efficiently increased by using the microwave-assisted diffusion method. It is demonstrated that biochar can serve as an excellent conductive framework to effectively activate sulfur. Simultaneously, the CoO nanoparticles possessing excellent capability to adsorb polysulfides can remarkably alleviate the dissolution of polysulfides, and greatly enhance the conversion kinetics between the polysulfides and Li2S2/Li2S in the charge/discharge processes. The sulfur electrode dual-functionalized with biochar and CoO nanoparticles exhibits excellent electrochemical performance, including high initial discharge specific capacity of 930.5 mAh g−1 and low capacity decay rate of 0.069 % per cycle during 800 cycles at 1C rate. It is particularly interesting that the CoO nanoparticles distinctively enhance the Li+ diffusion during the charge process, endowing the material with excellent high-rate charging performance. This could be beneficial for the development of Li-S batteries with fast charging feature.

Customizing the structure and chemical composition of ultralight carbon foams for superior microwave absorption performance

Developing biomass-derived three-dimensional porous carbon materials (porous carbon foam, PCF) has become a common strategy to obtain lightweight and efficient electromagnetic microwave-absorbing materials. Without the introduction of a template and subsequent activation process, several ultra-lightweight honeycomb PCF samples were successfully prepared from dried ballonflower/yamakurage (DB) by simple calcination. In addition, the calcination temperature plays a decisive role in regulating the pore size, composition and microwave absorption properties of PCF samples. Furthermore, it is worth noting that different cutting directions also influenced the hole size of the PCF sample and the microwave absorption performances. Under the combined effects of multiple reflections and scattering of PCF porous structure, dipole polarization of abundant heterogeneous atoms and good conductive loss of carbon material, the vertical cutting sample PCF-900V exhibits optimal microwave absorption performances with the minimal reflection loss (RLmin) value of −46.95 dB at 1.46 mm thickness and the effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) value of 5.52 GHz at 1.72 mm matching thickness respectively, indicating its great potential for application as a promising lightweight and efficient microwave absorbing material.

Recent Progress and Future Directions of Biomass-Derived Hierarchical Porous Carbon: Designing, Preparation, and Supercapacitor Applications

In the past decades, fossil energy depletion, environmental pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions have resulted in serious health threats and ecological imbalances, which prompt researchers to explore green and sustainable supercapacitor energy storage and conversion systems. Biomass is a promising renewable energy source to use for biomass porous carbon for supercapacitor devices because it is renewable and has abundant reserves, a low price, and low pollution carbon energy. To date, although some reports have screened different biomass precursors, carbonization methods, and activation strategies and mechanisms, a comprehensive evaluation and critical review of the correlation among biomass porous carbon properties, including pore structure and surface chemistry, and electrochemical energy storage performances of supercapacitors are absent from a multidisciplinary assessment perspective. Therefore, in this review, we summarize recent advances in the biomass porous carbon synthesis process focusing on different carbonization and activation strategies, point out the scope of applicability and advantages/disadvantages of these methods in supercapacitor applications, and reveal the reaction mechanisms and limitations for commercial production. Then, the relationships among biomass porous carbon properties, including hierarchical porous structure, surface chemistry, specific surface area, and electrochemical performances of supercapacitors are reviewed in detail, which enables researchers to prepare and design advanced materials in a more rational way and facilitates them to explore more cutting-edge energy storage materials. Finally, two effective techniques including heteroatom doping and composite material construction are reviewed to address the general problem of low supercapacitor energy density. This review demonstrates the great potential of biomass porous carbon with superior properties, provides advanced tailoring and design viewpoints for the application fields of high-performance supercapacitors, and is expected to inspire new exploration and boost the practical commercial applications of biomass-derived hierarchical porous carbon material in more energy storage and conversion fields.

Biomass-derived porous carbon combined with CoFe2O4/CoFe@C for available low-frequency microwave dissipation

Biomass-derived porous carbon combined with CoFe2O4/CoFe@C for available low-frequency microwave dissipation

Natural Biomass-Derived Porous Carbon from Water Hyacinth Used as Composite Cathode for Lithium Sulfur Batteries

We have successfully prepared porous carbon from water hyacinth plants using several steps, i.e., carbonization, activation, and calcination processes. Water hyacinth porous carbon is an alternative as a carbon material due to the ease and low cost of the manufacturing process, abundant raw materials in nature, and its contribution to solving environmental problems. Utilization of water hyacinth weed plants as raw materials for porous carbon will provide added value to water hyacinth. In this research, porous carbon is used as the host material of sulfur in the electrodes of lithium sulfur batteries. The N2 adsorption desorption characterization showed a porous carbon surface area of around 642 m2/g and a total pore volume of 0.713 cm3/g. The sulfur content of the composite electrode of C/S 1:2.5 (%w/w) was 60.6%. The four-line probe (FLP) testing showed electrical conductivity of porous carbon of around 3.93 × 10−2 S/cm and the electrical conductivity of the composite electrode was around 5.4 × 10−4 S/cm. Furthermore, the composite electrodes were applied as cathodes of lithium sulfur batteries, which have thicknesses around 200 µm and sulfur loading of 3.57 mg/cm2. The highest discharge capacity of the battery was 312 mAh/g and the Coulombic efficiency was around 70%.

Porous Carbon Sponge from White-Rot Fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium for the Removal of Oils and Organic Solvents.

Oil leakage incidentally occurs and leads to environmental disasters. Because of their porous and hydrophobic characteristics, graphene sponges are often studied as an oil adsorbent to repair oil spills at sea. Graphene materials are very expensive, and their biological toxicity has been given serious concerns; however, the easier preparation and eco-friendly, biomass-derived porous carbon materials can be used as an alternative to graphene materials. In this study, we prepared a porous carbon sponge (PCS) for oil and organic solvent removal by carbonizing white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium, a fast-growing microorganism for the production of lignin-degrading enzymes and the environmental remediation. P. chrysosporium fungus balls were converted into black PCS by carbonization at high temperatures, where PCS was light (density of 56 g/L), hydrophobic (contact angle of 115°) and porous. According to the results of BET and XPS analysis, the surface area of PCS was 14.43 m2/g, and the carbon in PCS is mainly sp2 carbon. PCS could adsorb pure oils and organic solvents within seconds. The adsorption capacities of PCS were 20.7 g/g for gasoline, 30.1 g/g for peanut oil, 27.7 g/g for toluene, 18.5 g/g for dodecane, 32.5 g/g for chloroform, 27.1 g/g for tetrahydrofuran, 23.7 g/g for acetone and 13.7 g/g for ethanol. According to the reusability study, there was no obvious capacity loss after recycling up to 10 cycles. Our results indicated that white-rot fungi could be adopted as a cheap carbon resource for oil and organic solvent removal.

Controlled-Release of Plant Volatiles: New Composite Materials of Porous Carbon-Citral and Their Fungicidal Activity against Exobasidium vexans

Citral (Eo) exhibits excellent fungicidal activities. However, it is difficult to maintain long-term fungicidal activity due to its strong volatility. Herein, a controlled-release strategy by using biomass-derived porous carbon (BC) was developed to overcome the drawback of Eo. New composite materials were prepared by loading Eo on tea stem porous carbon (BC@Eo), and their controlled-release fungicidal activity against Exobasidium vexans was assessed. BC with a large specific surface area of 1001.6 m2/g and mesoporous structure was fabricated through carbonization temperature of 700°C. The BC@Eo materials were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. The results suggested that chemical and physical interactions occurred in BC@Eo. The Eo release profile suggested a biphasic pattern with an initial fast release on days 1–14 and a subsequent controlled phase on days 14–30. The in vitro cumulative release percentage of Eo from BC@Eo was 51% during one month, and this result was significantly lower than that from free Eo (cumulative release percentage of Eo of 82% in one week). The antifungal activities of Eo and BC@Eo against E. vexans were determined using the inhibition zone method. The results indicated that Eo and BC@Eo formed large inhibition zones of 19.66 ± 0.79 and 21.92 ± 0.77 mm, respectively. The influence on the hyphal structure of E. vexans was observed by scanning electron microscopy on day 30. The hyphal structure of E. vexans treated with BC@Eo was more shrunken than that treated with Eo at 30 days, suggesting that BC@Eo prolongs the fungicidal activity against E. vexans. This study demonstrated that the encapsulation of Eo in BC for developing the BC@Eo materials could be a promising strategy to inhibit volatility and maintain the fungicidal activity of Eo and provide a potential alternative for the reuse of abundant tea biomass waste resources.