Synthesis Of Carbon Materials Research Articles

Biomass waste-derived carbon materials for sustainable remediation of polluted environment: A comprehensive review

In response to the growing global concern over environmental pollution, the exploration of sustainable and eco-friendly materials derived from biomass waste has gained significant traction. This comprehensive review seeks to provide a holistic perspective on the utilization of biomass waste as a renewable carbon source, offering insights into the production of environmentally benign and cost-effective carbon-based materials. These materials, including biochar, carbon nanotubes, and graphene, have shown immense promise in the remediation of polluted soils, industrial wastewater, and contaminated groundwater. The review commences by elucidating the intricate processes involved in the synthesis and functionalization of biomass-derived carbon materials, emphasizing their scalability and economic viability. With their distinctive structural attributes, such as high surface areas, porous architectures, and tunable surface functionalities, these materials emerge as versatile tools in addressing environmental challenges. One of the central themes explored in this review is the pivotal role that carbon materials play in adsorption processes, which represent a green and sustainable technology for the removal of a diverse array of pollutants. These encompass noxious organic compounds, heavy metals, and organic matter, encompassing pollutants found in soils, groundwater, and industrial wastewater. The discussion extends to the underlying mechanisms governing adsorption, shedding light on the efficacy and selectivity of carbon-based materials in different environmental contexts. Furthermore, this review delves into multifaceted considerations, spanning the spectrum from biomass and biowaste resources to the properties and applications of carbon materials. This holistic approach aims to equip researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive understanding of the synergistic utilization of these materials, ultimately facilitating effective and affordable strategies for combatting industrial wastewater pollution, soil contamination, and groundwater impurities.

High Rate Performance Supercapacitors Based on N, O Co-Doped Hierarchical Porous Carbon Foams Synthesized via Chemical Blowing and Dual Templates.

N, O Co-Doped porous carbon materials are promising electrode materials for supercapacitors. However, it is still a challenge to prepare high capacitance performance N, O Co-Doped porous carbon materials with balanced pore structure. In this work, a simple chemical blowing method was developed to produce hierarchal porous carbon materials with Zn(NO3)2·6H2O and Fe(NO3)3·9H2O as the foaming agents and precursors of dual templates. Soybean protein isolate served as a self-doping carbon source. The amount of Fe(NO3)3·9H2O influenced the microstructure, element content and capacitance performance of the obtained porous carbon materials. The optimized sample CZnFe-5 with the addition of 5% Fe(NO3)3·9H2O displayed the best capacitance performance. The specific capacitance reached 271 F g-1 at 0.2 A g-1 and retained 133 F g-1 at 100 A g-1. The CZnFe-5//CZnFe-5 symmetric supercapacitors delivered a maximum energy density of 16.83 Wh kg-1 and good stability with capacitance retention of 86.33% after 40,000 cycles tests at 50 A g-1. The symmetric supercapacitors exhibited potential applications in lighting LED bulbs with a voltage of 3 V. This work provides a new strategy for the synthesis of hierarchical porous carbon materials for supercapacitors from low-cost biomass products.

Synthesis of highly-porous nitrogen-doped carbon materials by pyrolysis of melamine-formaldehyde resin using a hard template

The use of nitrogen-doped carbon materials as electrodes in supercapacitors is a promising area of research. In this study highly-porous nitrogen-containing carbon materials were obtained by pyrolysis of melamine formaldehyde resin in the presence of nanocrystalline MgO as a hard template that was washed off after the pyrolysis. Magnesium citrate was used as a precursor for the synthesis of the template agent in situ during the pyrolysis of the resin. The obtained materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, BET nitrogen adsorption method and Raman spectroscopy. The presence of nitrogen in the amount of 4 atomic percent was proved by XPS spectroscopy. The specific surface area was found to increase monotonically from 10 to 1300 m2/g with an increase in the content of magnesium citrate in the initial mixture. The samples showed high capacitance of 120 F/g in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte and can be used in supercapacitors.

The synthesis of porous carbon material derived from coal liquefied residue and its electromagnetic wave absorption

To solve the problem of electromagnetic radiation pollution, it is necessary to develop an economic and environmentally friendly way of producing efficient electromagnetic wave absorbing materials. Carbon-based materials have attracted much attention but finding suitable precursors and ways of producing defined pore structures are still challenges. This work reported a facile method to produce porous carbon by using coal liquefaction oil residue as carbon source. The produced porous skeletons should be attributed to the generated Na2CO3 templates and CO2 gas during the thermal decomposition process of NaHCO3 templates. It is found that changing the pore structure not only adjusts the impedance matching of the material but also increases the length of the electromagnetic wave transmission path and increases dielectric loss. With the combined effect of multiple electromagnetic loss mechanisms, the material has excellent electromagnetic wave absorption. Specifically, with a filler loading of only 10% and a thickness of 2.03 mm, the obtained carbon material has a reflection loss value of −60.28 dB and an effective absorption bandwidth of 5.36 GHz. This work provides a new approach to developing high-performance carbon-based electromagnetic wave absorbing materials and also offers a new idea for the high value-added use of coal liquefaction oil residue products.

Recent progress in melt pyrolysis: Fabrication and applications of high‐value carbon materials from abundant sources

AbstractThe escalating demand for sophisticated carbon products, including carbon black, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and graphene, has yet to be adequately addressed by conventional techniques with respect to large‐scale, efficient, and controllable carbon material synthesis. Molten pyrolysis emerges as a propitious strategy for generating such high‐value carbon materials. Abundant carbon sources encompassing methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), biomass, and plastics can undergo thermal decomposition into carbon constituents within molten metal or salt media. This methodology not only obviates dependence on traditional fossil fuels but additionally enables modulation of carbon material morphologies by varying the molten media, thereby presenting substantial potential for effective and controlled carbon material fabrication. In this review, we examine the capacity of molten pyrolysis in producing high‐value carbon materials derived from CH4, CO2, biomass, and plastics. Concurrently, we present a detailed overview of the potential applications of this novel methodology, particularly emphasizing its relevance in the fields of supercapacitors, flexible materials, and electrochemical cells. Furthermore, we contemplate future trajectories for molten pyrolysis, accentuating that amalgamation with auxiliary processes or technologies—like renewable energy systems and carbon capture and storage—represents a remarkably promising route for continued investigation.

Effect of boron doping levels on the microstructure and characteristics of high-quality boron-doped diamond electrodes prepared by MPCVD

In order to fully understand the relationship between boron doping level and material characteristics, a series of high-quality boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes with different boron doping levels (B/C ratios = 1000–5000 ppm) were prepared on a silicon substrate using a self-designed microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) reactor in this study. The relationship between surface morphology, structural composition, chemical bonding state, electrical conductivity and electrochemical properties of BDD electrodes was investigated systematically. With the increase of boron doping level, the grain size of the BDD electrode tends to decrease, the crystal orientation tends to be dominated by (111) orientation, the conductivity increases sharply and then gradually stabilizes, while the width of the potential window tends to decrease (4.39 V to 3.95 V from 1000 ppm to 5000 ppm), and the reversibility and stability of the electrode improves significantly. In addition, such high-quality BDD electrodes also exhibit a higher sensitivity (0.1176 μAμM−1 cm−2) and lower limit of detection (0.276 μM) in the detection of dopamine. The boron doping level in BDD electrodes plays a prominent role in material characteristics such as surface morphology, structural composition, chemical bonding state, electrical conductivity and electrochemical properties. Despite the challenging synthesis of pure sp3 carbon materials at high boron doping levels, the BDD electrodes prepared in this study exhibit high quality without sp2 defects even with high boron doping levels, and possess extremely low resistivity (~10−3 Ω·cm) and a wide electrochemical potential window (~4 V), which has not been achieved in other previous research works and offer great potential in the electrochemical applications of BDD electrodes.

Tunable 1D and 2D Polyacrylonitrile Nanosheet Superstructures.

Carbon superstructures are widely applied in energy and environment-related areas. Among them, the flower-like polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-derived carbon materials have shown great promise due to their high surface area, large pore volume, and improved mass transport. In this work, we report a versatile and straightforward method for synthesizing one-dimensional (1D) nanostructured fibers and two-dimensional (2D) nanostructured thin films based on flower-like PAN chemistry by taking advantage of the nucleation and growth behavior of PAN. The resulting nanofibers and thin films exhibited distinct morphologies with intersecting PAN nanosheets, which formed through rapid nucleation on existing PAN. We further constructed a variety of hierarchical PAN superstructures based on different templates, solvents, and concentrations. These PAN nanosheet superstructures can be readily converted to carbon superstructures. As a demonstration, the nanostructured thin film exhibited a contact angle of ∼180° after surface modification with fluoroalkyl monolayers, which is attributed to high surface roughness enabled by the nanosheet assemblies. This study offers a strategy for the synthesis of nanostructured carbon materials for various applications.

Biomass-Derived Carbon-Based Electrodes for Electrochemical Sensing: A Review.

The diverse composition of biomass waste, with its varied chemical compounds of origin, holds substantial potential in developing low-cost carbon-based materials for electrochemical sensing applications across a wide range of compounds, including pharmaceuticals, dyes, and heavy metals. This review highlights the latest developments and explores the potential of these sustainable electrodes in electrochemical sensing. Using biomass sources, these electrodes offer a renewable and cost-effective route to fabricate carbon-based sensors. The carbonization process yields highly porous materials with large surface areas, providing a wide variety of functional groups and abundant active sites for analyte adsorption, thereby enhancing sensor sensitivity. The review classifies, summarizes, and analyses different treatments and synthesis of biomass-derived carbon materials from different sources, such as herbaceous, wood, animal and human wastes, and aquatic and industrial waste, used for the construction of electrochemical sensors over the last five years. Moreover, this review highlights various aspects including the source, synthesis parameters, strategies for improving their sensing activity, morphology, structure, and functional group contributions. Overall, this comprehensive review sheds light on the immense potential of biomass-derived carbon-based electrodes, encouraging further research to optimize their properties and advance their integration into practical electrochemical sensing devices.

Use of steam to prepare super active carbon with large pore volume for efficient capacitive deionization

Active carbons simultaneously possessing large surface area (>2000 m2/g) and high pore volume (>2.0 cm3/g) are pretty promising electrode materials for capacitive desalination. However, it is challenging to find a simple, cheap, and scalable method for preparing such materials. In this research, H3PO4-loaded coconut shell was fast heated in steam flow to yield active carbon for capacitive desalination. The as-yielded active carbon simultaneously displayed large specific surface area (2869 m2/g), high pore volume (2.26 cm3/g), and big micropore volume (0.83 cm3/g). Because of these characteristics, the carbon showed an electrosorption capacity of 64.1 mg/g in a membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) configuration at 1.2 V in 500 mg/L NaCl solution. The capacity ranked among the highest values ever reported for C-based materials. The capacity retention exceeded 86 % after 20 adsorption/desorption cycles. Besides, the carbon showed high charge efficiency (92.4 %) and desalination rate. This research was beneficial for scalable synthesis of carbon materials for CDI.

Boosting supercapacitor performance through the facile synthesis of boron and nitrogen co-doped resin-derived carbon electrode material

In this study, we present the synthesis of porous carbon materials designated as B, N co-doped porous carbon materials (PRNB), co-doped with boron and nitrogen through a two-step carbonization process of self-made phenolic resin. Among them, urea, boric acid, and potassium oxalate were used as the heteroatom dopants and activator, respectively. The co-doping of boron and nitrogen induced a unique electronic structure, resulting in improved capacitance performance compared to single-doped materials. Moreover, the addition of potassium oxalate as an activator facilitated the etching of the carbon framework during pyrolysis. Owing to the co-doping effect of boron and nitrogen and the abundant micropores, the PRNB material exhibited a remarkably high specific capacitance of 330 F g−1 at 1 A g−1. It also displayed excellent rate performance (70 %) and stability, with only a 6 % loss after 10,000 cycles compared to other materials. The symmetric electrode based on PRNB achieved an energy density of up to 29.7 Wh kg−1 in a neutral electrolyte, which provides a novel approach for resin-derived carbon to improve electrochemical performance.

Critical review on the development of biomass waste as precursor for carbon material as electrocatalysts for metal-air batteries

The latest and state-of-art research on biomass waste-derived carbon materials synthesized for air electrodes used in metal-air batteries were succinctly and comprehensively reviewed in this report. This report also aims to provide greater understanding as well as to identify the strength and challenges of metal-air batteries (MAB), biomass wastes as precursor and the synthesis steps of carbon materials from biomass wastes as well as to propose several research routes for the shortcomings of carbon material synthesis from biomass wastes. MAB is a promising energy storage technology, but its commercialization was hindered due to the absence of a stable and active bifunctional electrocatalyst as well as costly air cathode material. The air cathode which is the key component of MAB is desired to have bifunctional catalytic properties and hierarchical porous structure. Carbon materials were known to be able to perform as an electrode material while acting as a catalyst towards the charge-discharge reactions. Due to its abundance and renewability, biomass wastes have great potential as low-cost and sustainable precursors to synthesize carbon materials as the air cathode while achieving waste reduction. The synthesis of carbon electrocatalyst from biomass waste usually include but not limited to pretreatments, carbonization, activation and doping. The synthesis method controls the structure and size, as well as the elemental content of carbon particles. Activation and doping of heteroatoms or metals were proven to enhance the efficiency and stability of the synthesized carbon material. However, each biomass waste have unique properties which requires tailored synthesis method to obtain carbon material with desired properties. Information on the synthesis methods as well as other crucial information were reviewed in this work which can help to spur more research to promote the utilization of biomass waste materials in energy storage application and to accelerate the commercialization of MAB.

Advances in the synthesis and applications of porous carbon materials.

Advances in the synthesis and applications of porous carbon materials.

Unravelling the properties of microzonal carbon from waste hard rubber by selective thermal transformation via conventional heating and microwave irradiation

Concerns regarding resource limitations and environmental pollution have led humankind towards a circular economy, where the primary objective is to convert waste into resources. In solidarity with the principles of the circular economy, for the first time, we have reported the synthesis of microzonal carbon by microrecycling of waste hard rubber using a conventional furnace (500 °C - 1500 °C; for 20min) and a microwave furnace (500 °C - 950 °C; for 5min). Microzonal carbon has been unveiled here as a hybrid carbon structure composed of ordered and disordered carbons. This study reveals the aspects of micorzonal carbon and analogises the effectiveness and performance of two different heating methods by way of various material characterisations. The overall analysis summarises that due to selective and rapid heating mechanism, the rate of change of structural properties of microzonal carbon, such as d-spacing (d002), crystallite size (Lc), and ID/IG band ratio, as well as the surface morphology, takes place rapidly in microwave heating than conventional heating. And it has been found that with the rise of temperature, the features of microzonal carbon become more prominent, such as the number of ordered carbon zone and mesopore volume increased, while micropore volume, surface area and interlayer spacing decreased. These evolving adjustments of features with temperature eventually ended up producing near-spherical shaped agglomerated microzonal carbon, with approximately 35–45 nm size. Waste hard rubber can have negative impacts on the environment unless they are disposed of properly. Synthesis of microzonal carbon via microrecycling of waste hard rubber can protect the environment from harsh consequences of waste hard rubber and ensure material sustainability to some extent or another. Therefore, microrecycling of waste hard rubber can fabricate a new horizon in the field of renewable carbon material synthesis, in the form of microzonal carbon.

Super microporous sulfur-doped hard carbon synthesized from a π-stacked Polybenzo[c]thiophene boosting reversible lithium-ion insertion at room temperature

Synthesis of porous carbon materials with controlled textural properties is an all-time challenging process for energy storage applications. Aromatic polymers possess high rigidity due to their π-π stacking arrangement and could serve as robust precursors to produce porous carbon. Herein, super-microporous sulfur-doped hard carbons (SM-SDHCs) were synthesized from a highly ordered aromatic polybenzo[c]thiophene between 600 and 800 °C by using KOH as an activation agent. The degree of carbonization and defects were enhanced as the temperature increased from 600 to 800 °C as confirmed by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy techniques. All the SM-SDHCs exhibit a super-microporosity (<2 nm) and high surface area (1126–1444 m2 g−1). Among the three synthesized carbons, the SM-SDHC800 exhibited a high discharge capacity of 760.7 mAh g−1 at 20 mA g−1 and showed excellent cycle stability at 200 mA g−1 for 250 cycles. The reversible lithium-ion insertion of SM-SDHC800 anode is accredited to its high degree of carbonization, defect-rich quality, high interlayer distance, and microporous texture with large pore volume (0.68 cm3 g−1). In addition, the excellent cycle stability at 2 A g−1 for 1000 cycles shows its robustness for high C-rate LIBs. Polybenzo[c]thiophene precursor is a perceptive choice to produce sulfur-doped super-microporous hard carbon with controlled textural properties and could bring dramatic advances in the synthesis of nanostructured carbon materials for energy storage applications.

Bottom-up synthesis of carbon materials with an exceptionally high percentage of pentagons or tertiary nitrogen by brominating precursors

Carbon materials with pentagons and graphitic nitrogen (tertiary nitrogen) have attracted much attention due to their prominent electrical and chemical properties. However, the low percentage of introduced pentagons and tertiary nitrogen as well as residual hydrogen originating from precursors have been problems. In this study, three precursors such as corannulene (Cora), indolizine (ID), and indolizino [6,5,4,3-ija]quinoline (IQ) were brominated by two different reaction methods such as heat treatment and ultrasonic treatment for preparing carbon materials with high percentages of pentagons and tertiary nitrogen. Unlike general bromination by heat treatment, ultrasonic bromination avoided the oxidation of precursors, leading to more controlled structures of carbon materials. A carbon material with exceptionally high percentages of retained pentagons (96%) and reacted edges (50%) as well as another carbon material with exceptionally high percentages of tertiary nitrogen (93%) and reacted edges (74%) were successfully synthesized by carbonizing the brominated Cora at 773 K and the brominated IQ at 873 K, respectively. Compared to non-brominated precursors such as Cora and IQ, bromination of precursors lowered the carbonization temperature and increased the percentage of reacted edges, while maintaining a high percentage of pentagons and that of tertiary nitrogen, respectively.

Bottom-up synthesis of pyridinic nitrogen-doped carbon materials from brominated two-fused-ring aromatics at low carbonization temperatures

Bottom-up synthesis of pyridinic nitrogen-doped carbon materials from brominated two-fused-ring aromatics at low carbonization temperatures

Versatile Synthesis of Carbon Materials using Protic Ionic Liquids and Salts as Precursors.

Carbon materials (CMs) hold immense potential for applications across a wide range of fields. However, current precursors often confront limitations such as low heteroatom content, poor solubility, or complicated preparation and post-treatment procedures. Our research has unveiled that protic ionic liquids and salts (PILs/PSs), generated from the neutralization of organic bases with protonic acids, can function as economical and versatile small-molecule carbon precursors. The resultant CMs display attractive features, including elevated carbon yield, heightened nitrogen content, improved graphitic structure, robust thermal stability against oxidation, and superior conductivity, even surpassing that of graphite. These properties can be elaborate modulated by varying the molecular structure of PILs/PSs. In this Personal Account, we summarize recent developments in PILs/PSs-derived CMs, with a particular focus on the correlations between precursor structure and the physicochemical properties of CMs. We aim to impart insights into the foreseeable controlled synthesis of advanced CMs.

Treatment of Biowaste for Electrodes in Energy Storage Applications: A Brief Review

Proper and innovative waste management methods still pose a major concern in our present world. Continuous accumulation of biowaste from bio-processing industries, household, organic residues and so on makes the environment polluted and endangers the health of man and other animals. The common waste management methods which include direct dumping into water bodies, open-air combustion, and as land fillers are obsolete and are the major causes of environmental pollution. Conversion of biowastes into valuable materials aids proper waste management, and helps to attain a cleaner environment, in addition to the fact that wastes are turned into wealth. Biowastes are rich in carbon and can serve as excellent precursors for the synthesis of important carbon materials such as activated carbon, graphene, carbon nanotubes etc. Three important methods of converting biowastes into carbon materials are discussed in this review. The electrochemical, adsorption, and electrocatalytic properties of the materials and the applications in electrochemical energy storage devices are also discussed in brief. This review focuses on the synthesis of carbon materials from biowaste residues and their use in developing electrode materials for batteries and supercapacitors. Future perspectives on the need to exploit greener technology for the conversion of biowastes into important carbon materials should be considered.

Controllable synthesis of bowl-shaped porous carbon materials through didodecyldimethylammonium bromide for high performance supercapacitors

Controllable synthesis of bowl-shaped porous carbon materials through didodecyldimethylammonium bromide for high performance supercapacitors

Synthesis of carbon materials with extremely high pyridinic-nitrogen content and controlled edges from aromatic compounds with highly symmetric skeletons

Synthesis of carbon materials with extremely high pyridinic-nitrogen content and controlled edges from aromatic compounds with highly symmetric skeletons