scholarly journals Importance of Carbon Porosity for Energy-Related Applications

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 183
Author(s):  
T.J. Bandosz

Nanoporous carbons have many advantages over other adsorbents. This includes their high surface area, pore volume and also conductivity of a carbon matrix. The latter is very important for electrocatalysis. In recent years carbon materials have gained a lot of attention as metal-free catalysts. Their catalytic centers have been linked mainly to nitrogen and sulfur heteroatoms incorporated to the carbon matrix. So far, the research efforts have focused mainly on nanoforms of carbons such a graphene and carbon nanotube (CNT). Inspired by those results, we have performed CO2 and O2 electroreduction on nanoporous carbons assuming that small pores, similar in sizes to target molecules, can enhance the efficiency of these catalytic processes. Indeed, the results suggested that even though the N- and S- based catalytic centers are important, adsorption of O2 or CO2/CO2-/CO/H2 in pores has a positive effect on these overall reduction processes. This minireview summarizes our recent results on the role of porosity in electrocatalysis on porous carbons.

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashma Chaudhary ◽  
Subrata Maji ◽  
Rekha Goswami Shrestha ◽  
Ram Lal Shrestha ◽  
Timila Shrestha ◽  
...  

Hierarchically porous activated carbon materials from agro-waste, Jackfruit seeds are prepared by a chemical activation method involving the treatment with zinc chloride (ZnCl2) at different temperatures (600–1000 °C). The electrochemical supercapacitance performances of the prepared materials were studied in an aqueous electrolyte (1 M sulfuric acid, H2SO4) in a three-electrode system. Jackfruit seed carbons display nanoporous structures consisting of both micro- and mesopore architectures and they are amorphous in nature and also contain oxygenated surface functional groups, as confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (pXRD), Raman scattering, and Fourier-transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, respectively. The surface areas and pore volumes were found to be 1216.0 to 1340.4 m2·g−1 and 0.804 to 1.144 cm3·g−1, respectively, demonstrating the better surface textural properties compared to the commercial activated carbons. Due to the high surface area, large pore volume, and well developed hierarchical micro- and mesoporosity, the optimal sample achieved a high specific capacitance of 292.2 F·g−1 at 5 mV·s−1 and 261.3 F·g−1 at 1 A·g−1 followed by outstanding high rate capability. The electrode sustained 71.6% capacity retention at a high current density of 20 A·g−1. Furthermore, the electrode displayed exceptional cycling stability with small capacitance loss (0.6%) even after 10,000 charging–discharging cycles, suggesting that Jackfruit seed would have potential in low-cost and scalable production of nanoporous carbon materials for supercapacitors applications.


Catalysts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernay Cifuentes ◽  
Felipe Bustamante ◽  
Martha Cobo

A catalytic screening was performed to determine the effect of the support on the performance of an Au–Cu based system for the removal of CO from an actual syngas. First, a syngas was obtained from reforming of ethanol. Then, the reformer outlet was connected to a second reactor, where Au–Cu catalysts supported on several single and dual metal oxides (i.e., CeO2, SiO2, ZrO2, Al2O3, La2O3, Fe2O3, CeO2-SiO2, CeO2-ZrO2, and CeO2-Al2O3) were evaluated. AuCu/CeO2 was the most active catalyst due to an elevated oxygen mobility over the surface, promoting CO2 formation from adsorption of C–O* and OH− intermediates on Au0 and CuO species. However, its lower capacity to release the surface oxygen contributes to the generation of stable carbon deposits, which lead to its rapid deactivation. On the other hand, AuCu/CeO2-SiO2 was more stable due to its high surface area and lower formation of formate and carbonate intermediates, mitigating carbon deposits. Therefore, use of dual supports could be a promising strategy to overcome the low stability of AuCu/CeO2. The results of this research are a contribution to integrated production and purification of H2 in a compact system.


2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (7) ◽  
pp. 1004-1006
Author(s):  
Takahito Mitome ◽  
Yoshiaki Uchida ◽  
Norikazu Nishiyama

Nanomaterials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 854 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanbo Xiao ◽  
Cheng-an Tao ◽  
Yujiao Li ◽  
Xianzhe Chen ◽  
Jian Huang ◽  
...  

Herein, a facile dopamine assisted one-pot synthesis approach is proposed for the preparation of porous carbon with a specific surface area (SSA) up to 2593 m2/g through the direct pyrolysis of a mixture of glucose, NH4Cl, and dopamine hydrochloride (DAH). The glucose is adopted as the carbon source and foaming agent, NH4Cl is used as the blowing agent, and DAH is served as collaborative carbon precursor as well as the nitrogen source for the first time. The effect of dopamine on the component, structure, and SSA of the as-prepared porous carbon materials are systematically studied. The moderate addition of dopamine, which influences the condensation and polymerization of glucose, matches better with ammonium salt decomposition. The SSA of porous carbon increases first and then decreases with the increasing amount of dopamine. In our case, the porous carbon produced with 5 wt% dopamine (PC-5) achieves the maximum SSA of up to 2593 m2/g. Accordingly, it also shows the greatest electrochemical performance. The PC-5 shows a capacitance of 96.7 F/g calculated from the discharge curve at 1 A/g. It also has a good capacitive rate capacity, the specific capacitance can still maintain 80%, even at a high current density of 10 A/g. Moreover, PC-5 exhibits a good cycling stability of 98.1% capacitive retention after 1000 cycles. The proposed method may show promising prospects for preparing porous carbon materials as advanced energy storage materials, storage, and catalyst supports.


2008 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Leake ◽  
A. L. Duran ◽  
K. E. Hardy ◽  
I. Johnson ◽  
D. J. Beerling ◽  
...  

AbstractBiological weathering is a function of biotic energy expenditure. Growth and metabolism of organisms generates acids and chelators, selectively absorbs nutrient ions, and applies turgor pressure and other physical forces which, in concert, chemically and physically alter minerals. In unsaturated soil environments, plant roots normally form symbiotic mycorrhizal associations with fungi. The plants provide photosynthate-carbohydrate-energy to the fungi in return for nutrients absorbed from the soil and released from minerals. In ectomycorrhiza, one of the two major types of mycorrhiza of trees, roots are sheathed in fungus, and 15—30% of the net photosynthate of the plants passes through these fungi into the soil and virtually all of the water and nutrients taken up by the plants are supplied through the fungi. Here we show that ectomycorrhizal fungi actively forage for minerals and act as biosensors that discriminate between different grain sizes (53—90 μm, 500—1000 μm) and different minerals (apatite, biotite, quartz) to favour grains with a high surface-area to volume ratio and minerals with the highest P content. Growth and carbon allocation of the fungi is preferentially directed to intensively interact with these selected minerals to maximize resource foraging.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 1016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monickarla da Silva ◽  
Felipe Barbosa ◽  
Marco Morales Torre ◽  
Jhonny Villarroel-Rocha ◽  
Karim Sapag ◽  
...  

The mixture containing alloy and oxide with iron-based phases has shown interesting properties compared to the isolated species and the synergy between the phases has shown positive effect on dye adsorption. This paper describes the synthesis of Fe2SiO4-Fe7Co3-based nanocomposite dispersed in Santa Barbara Amorphous (SBA)-15 and its application in dye adsorption followed by magnetic separation. Thus, it was studied the variation of reduction temperature and amount of hydrogen used in synthesis and the effect of these parameters on the physicochemical properties of the iron and cobalt based oxide/alloy mixture, as well as the methylene blue adsorption capacity. The XRD and Mössbauer results, along with the temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) profiles, confirmed the formation of Fe2SiO4-Fe7Co3-based nanocomposites. Low-angle XRD, N2 isotherms, and TEM images show the formation of the SBA-15 based mesoporous support with a high surface area (640 m2/g). Adsorption tests confirmed that the material reduced at 700 °C using 2% of H2 presented the highest adsorption capacity (49 mg/g). The nanocomposites can be easily separated from the dispersion by applying an external magnetic field. The interaction between the dye and the nanocomposite occurs mainly by π-π interactions and the mixture of the Fe2SiO4 and Fe7Co3 leads to a synergistic effect, which favor the adsorption.


2020 ◽  
Vol 234 (5) ◽  
pp. 787-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Nhan Nong ◽  
Hoang Phi Tran ◽  
Camillo Spöri ◽  
Malte Klingenhof ◽  
Lorenz Frevel ◽  
...  

AbstractThe usage of iridium as an oxygen-evolution-reaction (OER) electrocatalyst requires very high atom efficiencies paired with high activity and stability. Our efforts during the past 6 years in the Priority Program 1613 funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) were focused to mitigate the molecular origin of kinetic overpotentials of Ir-based OER catalysts and to design new materials to achieve that Ir-based catalysts are more atom and energy efficient, as well as stable. Approaches involved are: (1) use of bimetallic mixed metal oxide materials where Ir is combined with cheaper transition metals as starting materials, (2) use of dealloying concepts of nanometer sized core-shell particle with a thin noble metal oxide shell combined with a hollow or cheap transition metal-rich alloy core, and (3) use of corrosion-resistant high-surface-area oxide support materials. In this mini review, we have highlighted selected advances in our understanding of Ir–Ni bimetallic oxide electrocatalysts for the OER in acidic environments.


Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1988 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabiano Gomes Ferreira de Paula ◽  
Ignacio Campello-Gómez ◽  
Paulo Fernando Ribeiro Ortega ◽  
Francisco Rodríguez-Reinoso ◽  
Manuel Martínez-Escandell ◽  
...  

Although traditionally high-surface area carbon materials have been considered as rigid structures with a disordered three dimensional (3D) network of graphite microdomains associated with a limited electrical conductivity (highly depending on the porous structure and surface chemistry), here we show for the first time that this is not the case for activated carbon materials prepared using harsh activation conditions (e.g., KOH activation). In these specific samples a clear structural re-orientation can be observed upon adsorption of different organic molecules, the structural changes giving rise to important changes in the electrical resistivity of the material. Whereas short chain hydrocarbons and their derivatives give rise to an increased resistivity, the contrary occurs for longer-chain hydrocarbons and/or alcohols. The high sensitivity of these high-surface area carbon materials towards these organic molecules opens the gate towards their application for sensing devices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-40
Author(s):  
Manorama Singh ◽  
Smita R. Bhardiya ◽  
Fooleswar Verma ◽  
Vijai K. Rai ◽  
Ankita Rai

At present, graphene is one of the most up-to-date materials and it can be applied for various energy conversion devices and sensor technology. In this review article, our main focus is to summarize the role of graphene and its modified surface leading to develop hybrid nanomaterials and its applications in fabrication of pesticide sensor. Graphene based materials demonstrate exclusive electrochemical and optical properties as well as compatibility to absorb a variety of bio-molecules through π-π stacking interaction and/or electrostatics interaction, which make them ideal material to be employed in sensor application. The role of graphene is very crucial in preparing different unique and desirable hybrid functional composites along with nanoparticles, redox mediators, conducting polymers etc. to improve the performance of the sensors. Therefore, they can be easily used as a suitable material applying in fabrication of electrochemical sensors/ biosensors for the detection of organophosphorous and carbamate pesticides. A number of most recent reported works were discussed in which graphene-based hybrid composites show high sensitivity, good catalytic activity, selectivity towards the determination of pesticide either enzymatically or nonenzymatically. The properties of graphene (exceptional charge transport, thermal, optical, mechanical, high surface area, large pore volume and size, an opened ordered structure) play an important role in pesticide detection.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed M. Hashem ◽  
Ashraf E. Abdel-Ghany ◽  
Rasha S. El-Tawil ◽  
Sylvio Indris ◽  
Helmut Ehrenberg ◽  
...  

An amorphous MomO3m−1/carbon nanocomposite (m ≈ 5) is fabricated from a citrate–gel precursor heated at moderate temperature (500 °C) in inert (argon) atmosphere. The as-prepared Mo5O14-type/C material is compared to α-MoO3 synthesized from the same precursor in air. The morphology and microstructure of the as-prepared samples are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman scattering (RS) spectroscopy. Thermal gravimetry and elemental analysis indicate the presence of 25.8 ± 0.2% of carbon in the composite. The SEM images show that Mo5O14 is immersed inside a honeycomb-like carbon matrix providing high surface area. The RS spectrum of Mo5O14/C demonstrates an oxygen deficiency in the molybdenum oxide and the presence of a partially graphitized carbon. Outstanding improvement in electrochemical performance is obtained for the Mo5O14 encapsulated by carbon in comparison with the carbon-free MoO3.


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