Advanced Material-oriented Biomass Precise Reconstruction: A Review on Porous Carbon with Inherited Natural Structure and Created Artificial Structure by Post-treatment

Manufacturing of porous carbon with biomass resources has been intensively investigated in recent decades. The diversity of biomass species and great variety of processing methods enable the structural richness of porous carbon as well as their wide applications. In this review, we specifically focused on the structure of biomass-derived porous carbon either inherited from natural biomass or created by post-treatment. The intrinsic structure of plant biomass was briefly introduced and the utilization of the unique structures at different length-scales were discussed. In term of post-treatment, the structural features of activated carbon by traditional physical and chemical activation were summarized and compared in a wide spectrum of biomass species, statistical analysis were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of different activation methods in creating specific pore structures. The similar pore structure of biomass-derived carbon and coal-derived carbon suggested a promising replacement with more sustainable biomass resources in producing porous carbon. In summary, using biomass as porous carbon precursor endows the flexibility of using its naturally patterned micro-structure and the tunability of controlled pore-creation by post treatment. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Biochar porosity: a nature-based dependent parameter to deliver microorganisms to soils for land restoration

Literature shows that biochar can potentially retain nutrients in agricultural soils, avoiding significant nutrient losses. Furthermore, biochar porosity and functional groups have been shown to enhance physico-chemical properties of soil when amended, which in turn has the ability to encourage inhabitation of specific microorganisms as biofertilizers or to enhance soil remediation. It supports scale-dependent parameters and provides both ecosystem services and soil-vegetation solutions relevant to nature-based solutions. However, detailed researches on the mechanisms of soil microbial interactions with biochar porous properties are required, along with the microbial attachment factors, sustenance, and detachment when applied to soils. Recent valuable works have impregnated plant growth-promoting bacteria unto biochar and have observed inconsistent results. Firstly, biochar intrinsic properties alter the fate of impregnation by inhibiting quorum sensing signals, and the macropore requirements for adsorption and/or biofilm formation have not been well considered. Additionally, the nutrient and supplement requirements for each microorganism as well as the adsorption capacity have not been well understood for biochar surfaces. Substantial information is required to understand the mechanisms of microbe adsorption and factors that influence the process, as well as sustenance of the matrix even when deployed in soils. Research directions should focus on determining molecular and chemical mechanisms responsible for the biochar-microbe interaction process and fate of microbe on biochar while expressing plant growth-promoting properties, which needs to be done in laboratory and field trials. Graphical abstract.

An all-lignin-based flexible supercapacitor based on a nitrogen-doped carbon dot functionalized graphene hydrogel

In this manuscript, the synthesis of a nitrogen-doped carbon dot functionalized graphene hydrogel and its application as a supercapacitor electrode have been reported.

Electrochemical energy storage electrodes from fruit biochar

This review investigates the electrochemical energy storage electrode (EESE) as the most important part of the electrochemical energy storage devices (EES) prepared from fruit-derived carbon. The EES devices include batteries, supercapacitors, and hybrid devices that have various regular and advanced applications. The preparation of EESE from fruit wastes not only reduce the price of the electrode but also lead to enhance the electrochemical properties of the electrode. The astonishing results of fruits biochar at electrochemical analyses guarantee the performance of these electrodes as EESE. Also, using fruit waste as the precursor of the EESE due to protect the environment and reduce environmental pollutions.

Metal-Organic Coordination Polymer to Prepare Density Controllable and High Nitrogen-Doped Content Carbon/Graphene for High Performance Supercapacitors

Design and preparation of carbon-based electrode material with high nitrogen-doping ratio and appropriate density attract much interest for supercapacitors in practical application. Herein, three porous carbon/graphene (NCG_Cu, NCG_Fe, and NCG_Zn) with high doping ratio of nitrogen have been prepared via directly pyrolysis of graphene oxide (GO)/metal-organic coordination polymer (MOCP) composites, which were formed by reacting 4,4'-bipyridine (BPD) with CuCl₂, FeCl₃, and ZnCl₂, respectively. As-prepared NCG_Cu, NCG_Fe and NCG_Zn showed high nitrogen doping ratio of 10.68, 12.99, and 11.21 at. %; and high density of 1.52, 0.84, and 1.15 g cm^-3, respectively. When as-prepared samples were used as supercapacitor electrodes, NCG_Cu, NCG_Fe and NCG_Zn exhibited high gravimetric specific capacitances of 369, 298.5, 309.5 F g^-1, corresponding to high volumetric specific capacitances of 560.9, 250.7, 355.9 F cm^-3 at a current density of 0.5 A g^-1, as well as good cycling stability, nearly 100% of the capacitance retained after 1000 cycles even at a large current density of 10 A g^-1. It is expected that the provided novel strategy can be used to develop electrode materials in high performance energy conversion/storage devices.

Hierarchical nitrogen-doped porous carbon derived from lecithin for high-performance supercapacitors

The development of renewable carbon sources for sustainable energy storage applications is of significance importance.

Nitro Lignin-Derived Nitrogen-Doped Carbon as an Efficient and Sustainable Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction

The use of lignin as a precursor for the synthesis of materials is nowadays considered very interesting from a sustainability standpoint. Here we illustrate the synthesis of a micro-, meso-, and macroporous nitrogen-doped carbon (NDC) using lignin extracted from beech wood via alkaline hydrothermal treatment and successively functionalized via aromatic nitration. The so obtained material is thus carbonized in the eutectic salt melt KCl/ZnCl2. The final NDC shows an excellent activity as electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction.

Ion size, loading, and charge determine the mechanical properties, surface apatite, and cell growth of silver and tantalum doped calcium silicate

This study describes how various loadings of two ions with different size and charge, such as silver and tantalum, can affect the mechanical and biological properties of calcium silicate (CS).

Experimental investigation of heat transfer performance and frictional loss of functionalized GNP-based water coolant in a closed conduit flow

The convective heat transfer coefficient and friction factor of trimethylolpropane tris[poly(propylene glycol), amine terminated] ether-treated graphene nanoplatelet-based water coolants are investigated.

A facile biomass based approach towards hierarchically porous nitrogen-doped carbon aerogels

Nitrogen-doped carbon aerogels with hierarchically porous architectures (NHCAs) are prepared via the hydrothermal treatment of cantaloupe and the following activation with potassium hydroxide.

Nitrogen-doped porous carbon with a hierarchical structure prepared for a high performance symmetric supercapacitor

The synthesis of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon materials for high performance supercapacitors through carbonization of PoPD by using molten-salt as a template.

Cadmium ion sorption from aqueous solutions by high surface area ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid- and diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid-treated carbon nanotubes

Friedel–Crafts acylation under microwave irradiation has been utilized for realizing functionalization of CNT with EDTA and DTPA. Significant increases in the specific surface area and sequestering metal ions are the most important advantages.