The Synthesis And Applications Of Biomass-derived Functional Porous Carbon Materials

With the development of economy, mankind is faced with serious challenges, such as the lack of energy and the pollution of environment. Looking for new energy and researching for new materials are two important ways to solve the problems. The purpose of this study is to obtain the functional porous carbon materials from sustainable raw materials and facile methods.In this work, biomass, such as glucose, glucosamine hydrochloride, xylose, sucrose, hair and tofu, are used as carbon sources to prepare functional porous carbons. The different methods, such as hydrothermal carbonization, high temperature carbonization, chemical activation and degradation, are used to prepare porous carbons with high specific surface areas and pore volumes as well as heteroatom-containing functionalities.The structure and the surface chemical properties of all the obtained carbon materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Porosity properties of the materials were further investigated by nitrogen adsorption–desorption experiment, and the capacity of gas adsorption were also measured.These carbon materials synthesized by chemical activation of carbohydrates have high BET specific surface area values(2840 m2 g–1), and are proved to have superior performances in CO2 sorption(29.4 wt % at 273 K and 1.0 bar). The HPC-x materials synthesized from human hair process high BET specific surface areas(2700 m2 g–1) as well as relatively high nitrogen and sulfur contents, owning to the synergetic effect of the porous structure as well as the surface functionalities, the HPC-x materials exhibit excellent gas sorption capacities: carbon dioxide capture(up to 24.0 wt % at 273 K and 1.0 bar), hydrogen uptake(up to 2.66 wt %, at 77 K and 1.0 bar), and methane sorption(up to 3.04 wt % at 273 K and 1.0 bar). The carbon materials obtained from tofu show high BET specific surface area values of 1440 m2 g–1, the gas sorption capacities of CO2(up to 22.6 wt %, at 273 K and 1.0 bar) and CH4(up to 3.02 wt %, at 273 K and 1.0 bar) are also investigatedIn this work, all of the obtained functional porous carbons have high BET specific surface area values and excellent gas adsorption properties. These materials have potential to be used in the field of gases adsorption and storage. What’s more, the synthetic methods provide green and sustainable strategies towards the transformation of biomass into functionalized carbon materials.