The effect of precursor structure on porous carbons produced by iron-catalyzed graphitization of biomass
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Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This paper reports a systematic study into the effect of different biomass-derived precursors on the structure and porosity of carbons prepared via catalytic graphitization. Glucose, starch and cellulose are combined with iron nitrate and heated under a nitrogen atmosphere to produce Fe3C nanoparticles, which catalyze the conversion of amorphous carbon to graphitic nanostructures. The choice of organic precursor provides a means of controlling the catalyst particle size, which has a direct effect on the porosity of the material. Cellulose and glucose produce mesoporous carbons, while starch produces a mixture of micro- and mesopores under the same conditions and proceeds via a much slower graphitization step, generating a mixture of graphitic nanostructures and turbostratic carbon. Porous carbons are critical to energy applications such as batteries and electrocatalytic processes. For these applications, a simple and sustainable route to those carbons is essential. Therefore, the ability to control the precise structure of a biomass-derived carbon simply through the choice of precursor will enable the production of a new generation of energy materials.
Date Issued
2020-10-13
Date Acceptance
2020-10-10
Citation
Materials Advances, 2020, 1 (9), pp.3281-3291
ISSN
2633-5409
Publisher
The Royal Society of Chemistry
Start Page
3281
End Page
3291
Journal / Book Title
Materials Advances
Volume
1
Issue
9
Copyright Statement
© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence.
License URL
Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d0ma00692k
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-10-13