Popcorn-Derived Porous Carbon for Energy Storage and CO2 Capture

Natural Products Derived Porous Carbons for CO2 Capture

As it is now established that global warming and climate change are a reality, international investments are pouring in and rightfully so for climate change mitigation. Carbon capture and separation (CCS) is therefore gaining paramount importance as it is considered one of the powerful solutions for global warming. Sorption on porous materials is a promising alternative to traditional carbon dioxide (CO2 ) capture technologies. Owing to their sustainable availability, economic viability, and important recyclability, natural products-derived porous carbons have emerged as favorable and competitive materials for CO2 sorption. Furthermore, the fabrication of high-quality value-added functional porous carbon-based materials using renewable precursors and waste materials is an environmentally friendly approach. This review provides crucial insights and analyses to enhance the understanding of the application of porous carbons in CO2 capture. Various methods for the synthesis of porous carbon, their structural characterization, and parameters that influence their sorption properties are discussed. The review also delves into the utilization of molecular dynamics (MD), Monte Carlo (MC), density functional theory (DFT), and machine learning techniques for simulating adsorption and validating experimental results. Lastly, the review provides future outlook and research directions for progressing the use of natural products-derived porous carbons for CO2 capture.

Boosting Carbon Dioxide Reduction in a Photocatalytic Fuel Cell with a Bubbling Fluidized Cathode: Dual Function of Titanium Carbide

Photoelectrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) is a promising avenue to realize resourceful utilization of carbon dioxide and mitigate the energy shortage. Herein, a photocatalytic fuel cell with a bubbling fluidized cathode (PFC-BFC) is proposed to increase the performance of the photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). Titanium carbide (Ti3C2) is first used as a fluidized cathode catalyst with the dual features of superior capacitance and high CO2RR catalytic activity. Compared with the conventional PFC system, the as-proposed PFC-BFC system exhibits a higher gas production performance. Particularly, the generation rate and Faraday efficiency for CH4 production reach to 37.2 μmol g-1 h-1 and 72%, which are 10.9 and 6.5 times higher than that of the conventional PFC system, respectively. The bubbling fluidized cathode allows a rapid electron transfer between catalysts and the current collector and an efficient diffusion of catalysts in the whole solution, thus remarkably increasing the effective reaction area of the CO2RR. In addition, the fluidized reaction mechanism of charging/discharging-coupled CO2RR is investigated. Significantly, a magnified PFC-BFC system is designed and exhibits a similar gas generation rate compared to that of the small-scale system, indicating a good potential of scaling up in the industry applications. These results demonstrated that the proposed PFC-BFC system can maximize the utilization of catalyst active sites and enhance the reaction kinetics, providing an alternative design for the application of CO2RR.

CO2 adsorption on pyrolysis char from protein-containing livestock waste: How do proteins affect?

Biogas generation through anaerobic digestion provides an interesting opportunity to valorize some types of animal waste materials whose management is increasingly complicated by legal and environmental restrictions. To successfully expand anaerobic digestion in livestock areas, operational issues such as digestate management must be addressed in an economical and environmentally sustainable way. Biogas upgrading is another necessary stage before intending it to add-value applications. The high concentration of CO₂ in biogas results in a reduced caloric value, so the removal of CO₂ would be beneficial for most end-users. The current work evaluates the CO₂ uptake properties (thermogravimetry study) of low-cost adsorbent materials produced from the animal wastes generated in the livestock area itself, specifically via pyrolysis of poorly biodegradable materials, such as meat and bone meal, and the digestate from manure anaerobic digestion. Therefore, the new element in this study with respect to other studies found in the literature related to biochar-based CO₂ adsorption performance is the presence of high content of pyrolyzed proteins in the adsorbent material. In this work, pyrolyzed chars from both meat and bone meal and co-digested manure have been proven to adsorb CO₂ reversibly, and also the chars produced from their representative pure proteins (collagen and soybean protein), which were evaluated as model compounds for a better understanding of the individual performance of proteins. The ultra-microporosity developed in the protein chars during pyrolysis seems to be the main explanation for such CO₂ uptake capacities, while neither the BET surface area nor N-functionalities on the char surface can properly explain the observed results. Although the CO₂ adsorption capacities of these pristine chars (6-41.0 mg CO₂/g char) are far away from data of commercially activated carbons (~80 mg CO₂/g char), this application opens a new via to integrate and valorize these wastes in the circular economy of the primary sector.

A Sustainable Approach for Preparing Porous Carbon Spheres Derived from Kraft Lignin and Sodium Hydroxide as Highly Packed Thin Film Electrode Materials

A green synthetic strategy to design biomass-derived porous carbon electrode materials with precisely tailored structure and morphology has always been a challenging goal because these materials can fulfill the demands of next-generation supercapacitors and other electrochemical devices. Potassium hydroxide (KOH) is extensively utilized as an activator since it can produce porous carbon with high specific surface area and well-developed porous channels. The exploitation of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as an activating agent is less referenced in the literature, although it offers some advantages over KOH in terms of low cost, less corrosiveness, and simple handling procedure, all of which are appealing particularly from an industrial viewpoint. The motivation for this present study is to fabricate porous carbon spheres in a sustainable manner via a spray drying approach followed by a carbonization process, using Kraft lignin as the carbon precursor and NaOH as an alternative activation agent instead of the high-cost and high-corrosive KOH for the first time. The structure of carbon particles can be accurately transitioned from a compact to hollow structure, and the surface textural properties can be easily tuned by altering the NaOH concentration. The obtained porous carbon spheres were applied as highly packed thin film electrode materials for supercapacitor devices. The specific capacitance value of porous carbon spheres with a highly compact structure (high packing density) is 66.5 F g^-1, which is higher than that of commercial activated carbon and other biomass-derived carbon. This work provides a green processing for producing low-cost and environment-friendly porous carbon spheres from abundant Kraft lignin and important insight for selecting NaOH as an activator to tailor the morphology and structure, which represents an economical and sustainable approach for energy storage devices.

Carbon Dioxide Capture through Physical and Chemical Adsorption Using Porous Carbon Materials: A Review

Due to rapid industrialization and urban development across the globe, the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) has been significantly increased, resulting in adverse effects on the climate and ecosystems. In this regard, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered to be a promising technology in reducing atmospheric CO2 concentration. Among the CO2 capture technologies, adsorption has grabbed significant attention owing to its advantageous characteristics discovered in recent years. Porous carbon-based materials have emerged as one of the most versatile CO2 adsorbents. Numerous research activities have been conducted by synthesizing carbon-based adsorbents using different precursors to investigate their performances towards CCS. Additionally, amine-functionalized carbon-based adsorbents have exhibited remarkable potential for selective capturing of CO2 in the presence of other gases and humidity conditions. The present review describes the CO2 emission sources, health, and environmental impacts of CO2 towards the human beings, options for CCS, and different CO2 separation technologies. Apart from the above, different synthesis routes of carbon-based adsorbents using various precursors have been elucidated. The CO2 adsorption selectivity, capacity, and reusability of the current and applied carbon materials have also been summarized. Furthermore, the critical factors controlling the adsorption performance (e.g., the effect of textural and functional properties) are comprehensively discussed. Finally, the current challenges and future research directions have also been summarized.

Oxygen and nitrogen enriched pectin-derived micro-meso porous carbon for CO2 uptake

Oxygen and nitrogen enriched micro-meso porous carbon powders have been prepared from pectin and melamine as oxygen and nitrogen containing organic precursors, respectively. The synthesis process has been performed following a solvothermal approach in an alkaline solution during which Pluronic F127 was added to the solution as the soft template. Following the solvothermal treatment, the carbonization process has been performed at 700, 850 and 950 °C. The synthesized porous carbons have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The surface area of 499.5 m2 g-1, total pore volume of 0.35 cm3 g-1, and a high nitrogen and oxygen content of 9.3 and 29.1 wt% are displayed for the fine sample. The optimal porous carbon had CO2 adsorption of up to 3.1 mmol g-1 at 273 K at 1 bar owing to abundant basic nitrogen-containing functionalities and the valuable micro-meso porous structure. Despite the absence of any reagent and also having a relatively moderate specific surface area, compared to similar materials, a very high ratio of adsorption capacity to specific surface area (6.2 μmol m-2) was observed. The Elovich kinetic model was found to be the best and the physisorption process was reported.

Biomass derived hierarchical porous carbon for high-performance O2/N2 adsorption; a new green self-activation approach

Biomass-derived porous carbons are the most common adsorbent materials for O₂/N₂ adsorption because of their excellent textural properties, high surface area, and low expense. A new synthesis method based on a self-activation technique was developed for a new green porous carbon adsorbent. This ecofriendly system was used for the synthesis of hierarchical porous carbons from walnut-shell precursors. The sorbent was successfully synthesized by facile one-step carbonization, with the activating reagents being gases released during the activation. The sample morphology and structure were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Raman, Fourier transform infrared spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, thermogravimetric, and differential thermal analysis. The optimal porous carbons were synthesized at 1000 °C, providing a surface area as high as 2042.4 (m² g⁻¹) and micropore volume of about 0.499 (m³ g⁻¹). At 298 °K under 9.5 bar pressure, the potential for O₂/N₂ separation using porous carbon samples was studied, and the sips isotherms with the highest adsorption potential were determined to be 2.94 (mmol g⁻¹) and 2.67 (mmol g⁻¹), respectively. The sample exhibited stable O₂/N₂ separation over ten cycles, showing high reusability for air separation. Finally, the technology described presents a promising strategy for producing eco-friendly porous carbon from a variety of biomass on an industrial scale.

Green porous carbon was synthesized by self-activation methodology with facile one-step carbonization from a walnut-shell precursor for air separation. The adsorption process behavior was surveyed using isotherm, kinetic and thermodynamic models.

Self-Template Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Hollow Carbon Nanospheres with Rational Mesoporosity for Efficient Supercapacitors

Rational design and economic fabrication are essential to develop carbonic electrode materials with optimized porosity for high-performance supercapacitors. Herein, nitrogen-doped hollow carbon nanospheres (NHCSs) derived from resorcinol and formaldehyde resin are successfully prepared via a self-template strategy. The porosity and heteroatoms in the carbon shell can be adjusted by purposefully introducing various dosages of ammonium ferric citrate (AFC). Under the optimum AFC dosage (30 mg), the as-prepared NHCS-30 possesses hierarchical architecture, high specific surface area up to 1987 m²·g^-1, an ultrahigh mesopore proportion of 98%, and moderate contents of heteroatoms, and these features endow it with a high specific capacitance of 206.5 F·g^-1 at 0.2 A·g^-1, with a good rate capability of 125 F·g^-1 at 20 A·g^-1 as well as outstanding electrochemical stability after 5000 cycles in a 6 M KOH electrolyte. Furthermore, the assembled NHCS-30 based symmetric supercapacitor delivers an energy density of 14.1 W·h·kg^-1 at a power density of 200 W·kg^-1 in a 6 M KOH electrolyte. This work provides not only an appealing model to study the effect of structural and component change on capacitance, but also general guidance to expand functionality electrode materials by the self-template method.

Nitrogen-Doped Hierarchical Porous Activated Carbon Derived from Paddy for High-Performance Supercapacitors

A facile and environmentally friendly fabrication is proposed to prepare nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous activated carbon via normal-pressure popping, one-pot activation and nitrogen-doping process. The method adopts paddy as carbon precursor, KHCO₃ and dicyandiamide as the safe activating agent and nitrogen dopant. The as-prepared activated carbon presents a large specific surface area of 3025 m²·g⁻¹ resulting from the synergistic effect of KHCO₃ and dicyandiamide. As an electrode material, it shows a maximum specific capacitance of 417 F·g⁻¹ at a current density of 1 A·g⁻¹ and very good rate performance. Furthermore, the assembled symmetric supercapacitor presents a large specific capacitance of 314.6 F·g⁻¹ and a high energy density of 15.7 Wh·Kg⁻¹ at 1 A·g⁻¹, maintaining 14.4 Wh·Kg⁻¹ even at 20 A·g⁻¹ with the energy density retention of 91.7%. This research demonstrates that nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous activated carbon derived from paddy has a significant potential for developing a high-performance renewable supercapacitor and provides a new route for economical and large-scale production in supercapacitor application.

High yield self-nitrogen-oxygen doped hydrochar derived from microalgae carbonization in bio-oil: Properties and potential applications

In this work, the high yield self-N-O doped hydrochar had been prepared through the hydrothermal carbonization of microalgae in the aqueous bio-oil. The effects of temperature, residence time and the ratio of Chlorella and bio-oil on the solid yield were investigated. The results showed that the hydrochar had excellent thermal stability and abundant nitrogen and oxide functional groups, its solid yield reached 199.33%. After activated by KOH at high temperature, the hydrochar was transformed into a porous carbon material with high nitrogen content. The porous carbon showed high CO₂ absorption of 5.57 mmol/g at 0 °C and 1 bar. It also exhibited a high specific capacitance of 216.6F/g at 0.2 A/g and a good electrochemical stability with 88% capacitance retention after consecutive 5000 cycles.

Lignocellulose-based adsorbents: A spotlight review of the effective parameters on carbon dioxide capture process

The increasing demand for energy all around the world has led to a rise in greenhouse gases (GHGs), of which carbon dioxide (CO₂) is the most important. CO₂ is largely responsible for global warming and climate change. Processes such as carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS), which have an effective role in climate mitigation, seem to be promising. In recent years, porous carbons, particularly activated carbons (ACs), have rapidly emerged as one of the most effective adsorbents of CO₂. However, the implementation of pristine ACs in the real world is still hindered due to their physical and weak adsorption, which makes these adsorbents sensitive to temperature and relatively poor in selectivity. Hence, the surface modification of ACs is essential in order to improve their surface area, pore structure and alkalinity. Numerous studies have reported lignocellulose-based ACs as very promising adsorbents of CO₂. In this review, the sources, health and environmental effects of CO₂, and the abatement methods of GHGs are described. In addition, the capture and separation of CO₂ from gas stream using various types of lignocellulose-based ACs are summarized. Furthermore, the key factors controlling the adsorption of CO₂ by ACs (characteristics of adsorbents, preparation conditions, as well as adsorption conditions) are comprehensively and critically discussed. Finally, future research needs and prospective research challenges are summarized.

High performance hierarchical porous carbon derived from distinctive plant tissue for supercapacitor

It is generally acknowledged that the activation method and component of the precursor are of great importance for making porous carbon. In this study, four plant materials belong to one genus were selected as optimized plant material to produce hierarchical porous carbon for supercapacitors, the influence of initial structure was discussed. All the produced porous carbons have large specific surface area (higher than 2342 m² g⁻¹), high microporosity (more than 57%), and high pore volume (larger than 1.32 cm³ g⁻¹). All the samples show characteristic of electrical double layer capacitance, and the onion-based porous carbon obtain highest specific capacitance of 568 F g⁻¹ at the current density of 0.1 A g⁻¹. With the current density rising from 1 A g⁻¹ to 50 A g⁻¹, the specific capacitance only decreases for 20%. After 5000 cycles, all the samples show relatively high capacitance retention (up to 97%). Two-step acid pickling has washed most impurities and directly lead to small equivalent series resistance (lower than 0.2 Ω). The samples show high power density and energy density (71 W h kg⁻¹@180 W kg⁻¹, 210 kW kg⁻¹@33 W h kg⁻¹). This study open an avenue to create high-performance hierarchical porous carbon based on plant architecture.

Porous, flexible, and core-shell structured carbon nanofibers hybridized by tin oxide nanoparticles for efficient carbon dioxide capture

HYPOTHESIS

Carbon based nanofibrous materials are considered to be promising sorbents for the CO₂ capture and storage. However, the precise control of porous structure with flexibility still remains a challenging task. In this research, we report a simple strategy to develop tin oxide (SnO₂) embedded, flexible and highly porous core-shell structured carbon nanofibers (CNFs) derived from polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) core-shell nanofibers.

EXPERIMENT

PAN/PVDF core-shell solutions were electrospun using co-axial electrospinning process. The as spun PAN core, and PVDF shell, with an appropriate amount of SnO₂, fibers were stabilized followed by carbonization to develop SnO₂ embedded highly porous and flexible core-shell structured CNFs.

FINDINGS

The optimized CNFs membrane shows a prominent CO₂ capture capacity of 2.6 mmol g^-1 at room temperature, excellent CO₂ selectivity than N₂, and a remarkable cyclic stability. After 20 adsorption-desorption cycles, the CO₂ capture capacity retains >95% of the preliminary value showing the long-term stability and practical worth of the final product. The loading of SnO₂ nanoparticles in the carbon matrix not only enhanced the thermal stability of the precursor nanofibers, their surface characteristics, and porous structure to capture CO₂ molecules, but also improves the flexibility of the CNFs by serving as a plasticizer for single-fiber-crack connection. Meaningfully, the flexible SnO₂ embedded core-shell CNFs with excellent structural stability can prevail the limitations of annihilation and collapse of structures for conventional adsorbents, which makes them strongly useful and applicable. This research introduces a new route to produce highly porous and flexible materials as solid adsorbents for CO₂ capture.

Three-Dimensional Hierarchical Porous Carbon Cathode Derived from Waste Tea Leaves for the Electrocatalytic Degradation of Phenol

Tea leaves have been explored as an economically viable and environmentally friendly source of biomass carbon. Tea leaf porous carbon (TPC) with a three-dimensional (3D) structure was prepared by a potassium hydroxide pretreatment and high-temperature calcination method, and the preparation process was simple and self-templating. The prepared TPC has a large specific surface area (1620.05 m² g^-1), three-dimensional multilayer pore structure, uniform pore size, and high oxygen content (15.51%). Both the calcination temperature and the activation level have an effect on the structure and performance of the TPC. The TPC electrode can generate a large amount of hydrogen peroxide in the initial stage of the degradation process, thereby increasing the amount of hydroxyl radicals generated and removing organic pollutants. Therefore, phenol was used to test the degradation effects and evaluate the degradation performance of TPC. Under suitable degradation conditions, TPC-800-2 showed a 95.41% degradation rate after 120 min of degradation, which is superior to that of other calcination temperatures and activation levels. The removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand after 180 min was 90.0% and showed good stability after being used 20 times. Our work illustrates that a simple, high-performance self-templating synthetic strategy for producing novel 3D-TPC from biomass sources can play a significant role in the actual wastewater treatment of other biomass materials.

Fluffy honeycomb-like activated carbon from popcorn with high surface area and well-developed porosity for ultra-high efficiency adsorption of organic dyes

Fluffy honeycomb-like activated carbon with ultra-high surface area and well-developed hierarchical porous structure is simply prepared from popcorn by NaOH activation as adsorbent for dye removal. The popcorn has an unique fluffy structure, which originates from the corn via a rapid puffing process and is reserved during the following carbonization and NaOH activation. The ultra-high surface area and developed hierarchical porous structure make PDAC-4 show an outstanding adsorption capacity of 7765 mg·g^-1 for Rhodamine B (2500 mg·L^-1), which is several times higher than those of the adsorbents ever reported. Moreover, PDAC-4 also has excellent adsorption performance for other dyes, such as Congo Red, Methylene Blue and Methyl Orange. The superior adsorption performance of PDACs to organic dyes opens its potential application in the purification of dye wastewater.

Hierarchical Porous Carbon Derived from Sichuan Pepper for High-Performance Symmetric Supercapacitor with Decent Rate Capability and Cycling Stability

Hierarchical micro-mesoporous carbon (denoted as HPC-2 in this study) was synthesized by pre-carbonization of biomass Sichuan pepper followed by KOH activation. It possessed well-developed porosity with the specific surface area of 1823.1 m² g⁻¹ and pore volume of 0.906 cm³ g⁻¹, and exhibited impressive supercapacitive behaviors. For example, the largest specific capacitance of HPC-2 was tested to be ca. 171 F g⁻¹ in a three-electrode setup with outstanding rate capability and stable electrochemical property, whose capacitance retention was near 100% after cycling at rather a high current density of 40 A g⁻¹ for up to 10,000 cycles. Furthermore, a two-electrode symmetric supercapacitor cell of HPC-2//HPC-2 was constructed, which delivered the maximum specific capacitance and energy density of ca. 30 F g⁻¹ and 4.2 Wh kg⁻¹, respectively, had prominent rate performance and cycling stability with negligible capacitance decay after repetitive charge/discharge at a high current density of 10 A g⁻¹ for over 10,000 cycles. Such electrochemical properties of HPC-2 in both three- and two-electrode systems are superior or comparable to those of a great number of porous biomass carbon reported previously, hence making it a promising candidate for the development of high-performance energy storage devices.

Ultrahigh Metal-Organic Framework Loading and Flexible Nanofibrous Membranes for Efficient CO2 Capture with Long-Term, Ultrastable Recyclability

In the global transition to a sustainable low-carbon economy, CO₂ capture and storage technology plays a key role in reducing emissions. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline materials with ultrahigh porosity, tunable pore size, and rich functionalities, holding the promise for CO₂ capture. However, the intrinsic fragility and depressed processability of MOF crystals make the fabrication of the flexible MOF nanofibrous membrane (NFM) rather challenging. Herein, we demonstrate an effective strategy for the versatile preparation of self-supported and flexible HKUST-1 NFM with ultrahigh HKUST-1 loading (up to 82 wt %) and stable and uniform HKUST-1 growth through the combination of electrospinning, multistep seeded growth, and activation process. The loading rate of MOF is the highest level among the reported analogues. Significantly, the HKUST-1 NFM exhibits a prominent CO₂ adsorption capacity of 3.9 mmol g^-1, good CO₂/N₂ selectivity, and remarkable recyclability. The CO₂ capacity retains ∼95% (3.7 mmol g^-1) of the initial value after 100 adsorption-desorption cycles, indicating that the HKUST-1 NFM has long-term and ultrastable recyclability and a significant practical value. Thus, the low-cost and scalable production pathway is able to convert MOF particles into self-supported and flexible NFMs, and thereby, they are better applied to the efficient postcombustion CO₂ capture.

Scalable Synthesis of a Ruthenium-Based Electrocatalyst as a Promising Alternative to Pt for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Designing highly active, stable, and cost-efficient electrocatalysts as alternatives to replace Pt is extremely desirable for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Despite much progress that has been made based on complete nonprecious metals (NPMs), very few NPM catalysts have shown comparable performance to Pt-based catalysts. Herein, a cost-efficient, environmentally friendly, and scalable method to synthesize a novel ruthenium(Ru)-doped transition-metal carbide (Mo₂C) hybrid catalyst was proposed. The hybrid nanoparticles were uniformly distributed and strongly embedded in a biomass-derived highly porous N-doped carbon framework. In particular, Mo₂C@Ru exhibited a Pt-like remarkable electrocatalytic performance for HER, and it only required an extremely low overpotential of 24.6 mV to reach the current density of 10 mA cm^-2. Furthermore, our density functional theory calculations indicated that the nanocomposite exhibits improved metal-hydrogen binding and favorable hydrogen adsorption energy, which is comparable to that of Pt. The facile and scalable synthesis methodology, the relatively low cost, and the excellent electrochemical HER performance comparable to that of commercial Pt/C suggest that the Mo₂C@Ru electrocatalyst is a promising alternative to Pt for large-scale hydrogen production.

Design and Preparation of Biomass-Derived Carbon Materials for Supercapacitors: A Review

The synthesis and application of biomass-derived carbon in energy storage have drawn increasing research attention due to the ease of fabrication, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability of the meso/microporous carbon produced from various biological precursors, including plants, fruits, microorganisms, and animals. Compared to the artificial nanostructured carbons, such as fullerene, carbon nanotube and graphene, the biomass-derived carbons may obtain superior capacitance, rate performance and stability in supercapacitor applications ascribing to their intrinsic nanoporous and hierarchical structures. However, challenges remain in processing techniques to obtain biomass-derived carbons with high carbon yield, high energy density, and controllable graphitic microstructures, which may require a clear understanding over the chemical and elemental compositions, and the intrinsic microstructural characteristics of the biological precursors. Herein we present comprehensive analyses over the impacts of the chemical and elemental compositions of the precursors on the carbon yield of the biomass, as well as the mechanism of chemical activation on the nanoporous structure development of the biomass-derived carbons. The structure–property relationship and functional performance of various biomass-derived carbons for supercapacitor applications are also discussed in detail and compared. Finally, useful insights are also provided for the improvements of biomass-derived carbons in supercapacitor applications.

Waste wool derived nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon for selective CO2 capture

In this work, N-doped hierarchical porous carbon has been successfully fabricated by KOH activation of waste wool. The optimal sample exhibits good CO₂ adsorption capacity under atmospheric pressure (1 bar), as well as excellent CO₂/N₂ selectivity.

Balsam-Pear-Skin-Like Porous Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibrous Membranes Grafted with Polyethyleneimine for Postcombustion CO2 Capture

Amine-containing sorbents have been extensively studied for postcombustion carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture because of their ability to chemisorb CO₂ from the flue gas. However, most sorbents are in the form of powders currently, which is not the ideal configuration for the flue gas separation because of the fragile nature and poor mechanical properties, resulting in blocking of the flow pipes and difficult recycling. Herein, we present a novel approach for the facile fabrication of flexible, robust, and polyethyleneimine-grafted (PEI-grafted) hydrolyzed porous PAN nanofibrous membranes (HPPAN-PEI NFMs) through the combination of electrospinning, pore-forming process, hydrolysis reaction, and the subsequent grafting technique. Excitingly, we find that all the resultant porous PAN (PPAN) fibers exhibit a balsam-pear-skin-like porous structure due to the selective removal of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) from PAN/PVP fibers by water extraction. Significantly, the HPPAN-PEI NFMs retain their mesoporosity, as well as exhibit good thermal stability and prominent tensile strength (11.1 MPa) after grafting, guaranteeing their application in CO₂ trapping from the flue gas. When exposed to CO₂ at 40 °C, the HPPAN-PEI NFMs show an enhanced CO₂ adsorption capacity of 1.23 mmol g^-1 (based on the overall quantity of the sample) or 6.15 mmol g^-1 (based on the quantity of grafted PEI). Moreover, the developed HPPAN-PEI NFMs display significantly selective capture for CO₂ over N₂ and excellent recyclability. The CO₂ capacity retains 92% of the initial value after 20 adsorption-desorption cycle tests, indicating that the resultant HPPAN-PEI NFMs have good long-term stability. This work paves the way for fabricating NFM-based solid adsorption materials endowed with a porous structure applied to efficient postcombustion CO₂ capture.

Popcorn-Derived Porous Carbon Flakes with an Ultrahigh Specific Surface Area for Superior Performance Supercapacitors

Popcorn-derived porous carbon flakes have been successfully fabricated from the biomass of maize. Utilizing the "puffing effect", the nubby maize grain turned into materials with an interconnected honeycomb-like porous structure composed of carbon flakes. The following chemical activation method enabled the as-prepared products to possess optimized porous structures for electrochemical energy-storage devices, such as multilayer flake-like structures, ultrahigh specific surface area (S_BET: 3301 m² g^-1), and a high content of micropores (microporous surface area of 95%, especially the optimized sub-nanopores with the size of 0.69 nm) that can increase the specific capacitance. The as-obtained sample displayed excellent specific capacitance of 286 F g^-1 at 90 A g^-1 for supercapacitors. Moreover, the unique porous structure demonstrated an ideal way to improve the volumetric energy density performance. A high energy density of 103 Wh kg^-1 or 53 Wh L^-1 has been obtained in the case of ionic liquid electrolyte, which is the highest among reported biomass-derived carbon materials and will satisfy the urgent requirements of a primary power source for electric vehicles. This work may prove to be a fast, green, and large-scale synthesis route by using the large nubby granular materials to synthesize applicable porous carbons in energy-storage devices.

Symmetric Supercapacitor Electrodes from KOH Activation of Pristine, Carbonized, and Hydrothermally Treated Melia azedarach Stones

Waste biomass-derived activated carbons (ACs) are promising materials for supercapacitor electrodes due to their abundance and low cost. In this study, we investigated the potential use of Melia azedarach (MA) stones to prepare ACs for supercapacitors. The ash content was considerably lower in MA stones (0.7% ash) than that found in other lignocellulosic wastes. ACs were prepared by KOH activation of pristine, carbonized, and hydrothermally-treated MA stones. The morphology, composition, surface area, porosity, and surface chemistry of the ACs were determined. Electrochemical measurements were carried out in three- and two-electrode cells, 3EC and 2EC, respectively, using 1 M H₂SO₄ as the electrolyte. The highest capacitance from galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) in 2EC ranged between 232 and 240 F·g⁻¹ at 1 A·g⁻¹. The maximum energy density reached was 27.4 Wh·kg⁻¹ at a power density of 110 W·kg⁻¹. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) revealed an increase in equivalent series resistance (ESR) and charge transfer resistance (R_CT) with greater ash content. Electrochemical performance of MA stone-derived ACs was compared with that of other ACs described in the recent literature that were prepared from different biomass wastes and results showed that they are among the best ACs for supercapacitor applications.

Lightweight and efficient microwave absorbing materials based on walnut shell-derived nano-porous carbon

Lightweight microwave absorbing materials have drawn tremendous attention. Herein, nano-porous biomass carbon materials have been prepared by carbonization with a subsequent potassium hydroxide activation of walnut shells and the microwave absorption properties have also been investigated. The obtained samples have large specific surface areas with numerous micropores and nanopores. The sample activated at 600 °C with a specific surface area of 736.2 m² g^-1 exhibits the most enhanced microwave absorption performance. It has the maximum reflection loss of -42.4 dB at 8.88 GHz and the effective absorption bandwidth (reflection loss below -10 dB) is 1.76 GHz (from 8.08 GHz to 9.84 GHz), corresponding to a thickness of 2 mm. Additionally, the effective absorption bandwidth can reach 2.24 GHz (from 10.48 GHz to 12.72 GHz) when the absorber thickness is 1.5 mm. Three-dimensional porous architecture, interfacial polarization relaxation loss, and the dipolar relaxation loss make a great contribution to the excellent microwave absorption performance. In contrast, the non-activated sample with lower specific surface area (435.3 m² g^-1) has poor microwave absorption performance due to a poor dielectric loss capacity. This comparison highlights the role of micropores and nanopores in improving the dielectric loss property of porous carbon materials. To sum up, porous biomass carbon has great potential to become lightweight microwave absorbers. Moreover, KOH is an efficient activation agent in the fabrication of carbonaceous materials.

Enzyme Immobilized on Nanoporous Carbon Derived from Metal-Organic Framework: A New Support for Biodiesel Synthesis

In this study, nanoporous carbon (NPC) derived from metal-organic framework was used as support for the immobilization of Burkholderia cepacia lipase. The decorated aluminum oxide within the mesoporous NPC improved the enzyme loading efficiency as well as the catalytic ability for the transesterification of soybean oil, thus making it a promising green and sustainable catalytic system for industrial application.

Porous high specific surface area-activated carbon with co-doping N, S and P for high-performance supercapacitors

Porous high specific surface area activated carbon with co-doping N, S and P for high-performance supercapacitors.