Activated Carbon Preparation from Lignin by H3PO4 Activation and Its Application to Gas Separation

Lignocellulosic Biomass-Derived Carbon Electrodes for Flexible Supercapacitors: An Overview

With the increasing demand for high-performance electronic devices in smart textiles, various types of flexible/wearable electronic device (i.e., supercapacitors, batteries, fuel cells, etc.) have emerged regularly. As one of the most promising wearable devices, flexible supercapacitors from a variety of electrode materials have been developed. In particular, carbon materials from lignocellulosic biomass precursor have the characteristics of low cost, natural abundance, high specific surface area, excellent electrochemical stability, etc. Moreover, their chemical structures usually contain a large number of heteroatomic groups, which greatly contribute to the capacitive performance of the corresponding flexible supercapacitors. This review summarizes the working mechanism, configuration of flexible electrodes, conversion of lignocellulosic biomass-derived carbon electrodes, and their corresponding electrochemical properties in flexible/wearable supercapacitors. Technology challenges and future research trends will also be provided.

Carbonization and H3PO4 activation of fern Dicranopteris linearis and electrochemical properties for electric double layer capacitor electrode

Today, the world’s climate change is a growing problem, plant carbon sequestration is one of the effective ways to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gases, mostly carbon gases. Dicranopteris linearis (D. linearis), a common fern species in the tropic or subtropic ecoregions, has been recently recognized as a potential feedstock to produce highly porous biochar. This study aims to enhance the specific surface area (SSA) and pore volumes of biochars derived from the D. linearis by H₃PO₄ activation and examine electrical properties of the activated biochars and their possible usage for the electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) electrode. The treated raw fern was activated with H₃PO₄ 85% by the three different mixing ratios 1:0, 1:1, and 1:3 (w/w) and then pyrolysis under N₂ flow maintained at 500 °C for 1 h. The performance as the electrode for an EDLC was evaluated in 1 mol L⁻¹ H₂SO₄ solution for the H₃PO₄-activated samples. The SSA and pore volumes were drastically increased after activation. The maximum SSA and pore volume were 1212 m² g⁻¹ and 1.43 cm³ g⁻¹, respectively for the biochar activated at 400 °C with a weight mixing ratio 1:3 (w/w) between the fern and H₃PO₄ acid while these values of the biochar at 400 °C were 12 m² g⁻¹ and 0.02 cm³ g⁻¹, respectively. The biochar activated at 600 °C with the mixing ratio 1:1 (w/w) showed the maximum capacitance value, ca. 108 F g⁻¹ at 1 mV s⁻¹. The activation using H₃PO₄ showed a positive tendency to enhance electrochemical properties and it could be a premise toward a higher performance of EDLC from the D. linearis derived activated biochar.

Characterization of Chemically and Physically Activated Carbons from Lignocellulosic Ethanol Lignin-Rich Stream via Hydrothermal Carbonization and Slow Pyrolysis Pretreatment

The aim of the present work is to investigate the possibility of producing activated carbons from the residual lignin stream of lignocellulosic ethanol biorefineries, as this represents an optimal opportunity to exploit a residual and renewable material in the perspective of sustainable bioeconomy, increasing biorefinery incomes by producing value-added bioproducts in conjunction with biofuels. Activated carbons (ACs) were produced via chemical (KOH) and physical (CO2) activation. Char samples were obtained by slow pyrolysis (SP) and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC). Several HTC experiments were carried out by varying residence time (0.5–3 h) and reaction temperature (200–270 °C), in order to evaluate their influence on the product yield and on the morphological characteristics of the hydrochar (specific surface area, total pore volume and pore size distribution). ACs from hydrochars were compared with those obtained from pyrochar (via physical activation) and from the raw lignin-rich stream (via chemical activation). In both cases, by increasing the HTC temperature, the specific surface of the resulting activated carbons decreased from 630 to 77 m2 g−1 for physical activation and from 675 to 81 m2 g−1 for chemical activation, indicating that an increase in the severity of the hydrothermal pretreatment is deleterious for the activated carbons quality. In addition, the HTC aqueous samples were analyzed, with GC-MS and GC-FID. The results suggest that at low temperatures the reaction mechanisms are dominated by hydrolysis, instead when the temperature is increased to 270 °C, a more complex network of reactions takes place among which decarboxylation.

Lignin Refinery Using Organosolv Process for Nanoporous Carbon Synthesis

Porous carbon has been widely used for many applications e.g., adsorbents, catalysts, catalyst supports, energy storage and gas storage due to its outstanding properties. In this paper, characteristics of porous carbon prepared by carbonization of lignin from various biomasses are presented. Various biomasses, i.e., mangosteen peel, corncob and coconut shell, were processed using ethanol as an organosolv solvent. The obtained lignin was characterized using a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometer and a viscosimeter to investigate the success of extraction and lignin properties. The results showed that high temperature is favorable for the extraction of lignin using the organosolv process. The FTIR spectra show the success of lignin extraction using the organosolv process because of its similarity to the standard lignin spectra. The carbonization process of lignin was performed at 600 and 850 °C to produce carbon from lignin, as well as to investigate the effect of temperature. A higher pyrolysis temperature will produce a porous carbon with a high specific surface area, but it will lower the yield of the produced carbon. At 850 °C temperature, the highest surface area up to 974 m²/g was achieved.

Nanoporous carbon based palm kernel shell and its characteristics of methane and carbon dioxide adsorption

Biogas is typically composed of 55% methane, 45% carbon dioxide, and small amount of impurities. For high quality of fuel, it is necessary to increase percentage of methane by removing carbon dioxide. This can be performed by molecular sieve utilizing different diffusivity of methane and carbon dioxide passing through pores. This work presents a study of adsorption properties (isotherm and kinetics) of carbon dioxide and methane on porous carbon from palm kernel shell. The biochar of palm kernel shell was activated at high temperature of 800 °C with steam. The carbon produced was then characterized by N2-sorption analysis, and ultimate analysis. The usability of material for CO2 and CH4 adsorption was tested using a static volumetric method. The results showed that steam-activated porous carbon features a higher surface area (650 m2 g−1) and more mesoporous structures with respect to the carbon produced without steam activation. In the adsorption study, the results showed that the carbon exhibited a higher adsorption to CO2 (2.0 mmol g−1) than CH4 (1.1 mmol g−1) at 1 atm and 30 °C. In the adsorption kinetics test, results displayed that the adsorption of CO2 on carbon is slower than methane, which is good for separation purposes.

Electiveness of agro-pulping process in the sustainable production of black liquor-based activated carbons

During the production of paper pulp, the waste water loaded with organic materials from pulping process is discharged. Therefore, water treatment should be performed before disposing of such effluent. The use of such effluent for production of activated carbon will be effective in omitting the wastewater treatment and in obtaining the product required in many industries. In this respect, this paper deals with evaluating the performance of activated carbons (ACs) produced from black liquors (BLs) as by-products from three pulping processes of rice straw (RS) and sugar-cane bagasse (SCB), namely: alkaline, sulfite and neutral sulfite, which are coded SP, SSP and NSP, respectively. Elemental analysis and thermal analysis (TGA and DTGA) are carried out on the BLs, while the surface area (S BET), micro-/mesoporous distribution, adsorption capacity of methylene blue (MB) and iodine (I2-value), as well as Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) and scanning electron micrograph (SEM) are studied on synthesizing ACs. The optimal pulping approach for achieving BL-based AC, with the following characteristics: specific surface area (S BET) ∼ 921 and 545 m2 g-1, MB adsorption capacity 238 and 370 mg g-1, and I2-value 928 and 1255 mg g-1 of BL-based ACs, are from neutral sulfite pulping of SCB (B-NSP) and RS (RS-NSP), respectively. These finding data are ascribed to the carbon content of BL, as well as greatest total volume (VT 0.786 and 0.701 cm3 g-1) together with decreasing the volume of micropores/total (38 and 48%) of BL-NSP-ACs. It is interesting to note that the AC provided from RS-NSP has greater adsorption capacity for I2 and MB than the AC produced from RS-pulp fibres.

Ethylene Adsorption Using Cobalt Oxide-Loaded Polymer-Derived Nanoporous Carbon and Its Application to Extend Shelf Life of Fruit

Suppressing the amount of ethylene during storage has been of interest as a method to enhance shelf life of fruit. In this work, ethylene removal by adsorption using cobalt oxide-impregnated nanoporous carbon has been studied. Nanoporous carbon with a high surface area up to 2400 m² g⁻¹ was prepared by carbonization process biomass and synthetic polymer at 850 °C. Dispersion of cobalt oxide on porous carbon surface was carried out by an incipient wetness procedure followed by calcination process at 200 °C. Ethylene adsorption test was performed using a volumetric method in an ultrahigh vacuum rig constructed by Swagelok VCR® fittings. The results showed that the cobalt oxide/carbon system had significant ethylene adsorption capacity. Ethylene uptake increases with the increasing cobalt oxide loading on the carbon. The highest ethylene capacity of 16 mol kg⁻¹ adsorbent was obtained by using 30 wt.% (weight percentage) of cobalt oxide dispersed in polymer-derived carbon. In closed storage, the ratio of 15 g adsorbent/kg fruit may extend the storage life up to 12 d, higher than that without adsorbent (3 d). Therefore, the results demonstrate the great potential use of cobalt oxide-impregnated nanoporous carbon as an adsorbent for ethylene removal during storage of fruit.

Lignin materials for adsorption: Current trend, perspectives and opportunities

Lignin is a highly aromatic low value biomass residue, which can be utilized for chemicals, fuels and materials production. In recent years significant attention has focused on adsorbent materials from lignin. However, only 5% of available lignin is exploited worldwide, thus significant opportunities still exist for materials development. This review summarizes recent research advances in lignin-based adsorbents, with a particular emphasis on lignin, its modification and carbon materials derived from this abundant feedstock. Lignin derived activated carbons have been utilized for air pollutant adsorption (e.g. CO₂, SO₂ and H₂S), while modified lignin materials have been developed for the removal of organic dyes and organics (like methylene blue, Procion Blue MX-R and phenols), heavy metals (such as Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd), or recovery of noble metals (e.g., Pd, Au and Pt). Future perspectives highlight how green chemistry approaches for developing lignin adsorbents can generate added value processes.

Experimental and theoretical studies on methylene blue and methyl orange sorption by wheat straw-derived biochar with a large surface area

MB hydrolyzes in water and the existing forms in water include both the well-accepted MB⁺ and the hydrolyzed form of MB⁺.

Preparation of a specific bamboo based activated carbon and its application for ciprofloxacin removal

The studied bamboo based activated carbon (BbAC) with high specific surface area (SSA) and high micro pore volume was prepared from bamboo scraps by the combined activation of H3PO4 and K2CO3. The BbAC was characterized based on the N2 adsorption isotherm at 77K. The results showed that the SSA and pore volume of BbAC increased with increasing impregnation ratio and reached maxima at the impregnation ratio of 3:1 at 750°C. Under these optimal conditions, the BbAC obtained could have a maximum SSA of 2237 m(2)/g and a maximum total pore volume of 1.23 cm(3)/g with the micro pore ratio of more than 90%. The adsorption performance of ciprofloxacin (CIP) on the BbAC was determined at 298 K. The Langmuir and Freundlich models were employed to describe the adsorption equilibrium and the kinetic data were fitted by pseudo first-order and pseudo second-order kinetic models. The results showed that the Langmuir model and the pseudo second-order kinetic model presented better fittings for the adsorption equilibrium and kinetics data, respectively. The maximum adsorption amount of CIP (613 mg/g) on the BbAC was much higher than the report in the literature. Conclusively, the BbAC could be a promising adsorption material for CIP removal from water.

Sequestration of carbon dioxide by indirect mineralization using Victorian brown coal fly ash

The use of an industry waste, brown coal fly ash collected from the Latrobe Valley, Victoria, Australia, has been tested for the post-combustion CO(2) capture through indirect minersalization in acetic acid leachate. Upon the initial leaching, the majority of calcium and magnesium in fly ash were dissolved into solution, the carbonation potential of which was investigated subsequently through the use of a continuously stirred high-pressure autoclave reactor and the characterization of carbonation precipitates by various facilities. A large CO(2) capture capacity of fly ash under mild conditions has been confirmed. The CO(2) was fixed in both carbonate precipitates and water-soluble bicarbonate, and the conversion between these two species was achievable at approximately 60°C and a CO(2) partial pressure above 3 bar. The kinetic analysis confirmed a fast reaction rate for the carbonation of the brown coal ash-derived leachate at a global activation energy of 12.7 kJ/mol. It is much lower than that for natural minerals and is also very close to the potassium carbonate/piperazine system. The CO(2) capture capacity of this system has also proven to reach maximum 264 kg CO(2)/ton fly ash which is comparable to the natural minerals tested in the literature. As the fly ash is a valueless waste and requires no comminution prior to use, the technology developed here is highly efficient and energy-saving, the resulting carbonate products of which are invaluable for the use as additive to cement and in the paper and pulp industry.