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1065 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

CO₂ Adsorption by para-Nitroaniline Sulfuric Acid-Derived Porous Carbon Foam

by Enrico Andreoli and Andrew R. Barron

C 2016, 2(4), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/c2040025 - 21 Dec 2016

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 8863

The expansion product from the sulfuric acid dehydration of para-nitroaniline has been characterized and studied for CO₂ adsorption. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization of the foam indicates that both N and S contents (15 and 9 wt%, respectively) are comparable to those separately reported for nitrogen- or sulfur-containing porous carbon materials. The analysis of the XPS signals of C1s, O1s, N1s, and S2p reveals the presence of a large number of functional groups and chemical species. The CO₂ adsorption capacity of the foam is 7.9 wt% (1.79 mmol/g) at 24.5 °C and 1 atm in 30 min, while the integral molar heat of adsorption is 113.6 kJ/mol, indicative of the fact that chemical reactions characteristic of amine sorbents are observed for this type of carbon foam. The kinetics of adsorption is of pseudo-first-order with an extrapolated activation energy of 18.3 kJ/mol comparable to that of amine-modified nanocarbons. The richness in functionalities of H₂SO₄-expanded foams represents a valuable and further pursuable approach to porous carbons alternative to KOH-derived activated carbons. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Materials and Processes for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Utilisation)

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2261 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceReview

Recent Progress in Design of Biomass-Derived Hard Carbons for Sodium Ion Batteries

by Joanna Górka, Cathie Vix-Guterl and Camelia Matei Ghimbeu

C 2016, 2(4), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/c2040024 - 5 Dec 2016

Cited by 68 | Viewed by 13013

Abstract

Sodium ion batteries (SIBs) have attracted lots of attention over last few years due to the abundance and wide availability of sodium resources, making SIBs the most cost-effective alternative to the currently used lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Many efforts are underway to find effective anodes for SIBs since the commercial anode for LIBs, graphite, has shown very limited capacity for SIBs. Among many different types of carbons, hard carbons—especially these derived from biomass—hold a great deal of promise for SIB technology thanks to their constantly improving performance and low cost. The main scope of this mini-review is to present current progress in preparation of negative electrodes from biomass including aspects related to precursor types used and their impact on the final carbon characteristics (structure, texture and composition). Another aspect discussed is how certain macro- and microstructure characteristics of the materials translate to their performance as anode for Na-ion batteries. In the last part, current understanding of factors governing sodium insertion into hard carbons is summarized, specifically those that could help solve existing performance bottlenecks such as irreversible capacity, initial low Coulombic efficiency and poor rate performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Batteries: Recent Advances in Carbon Materials)

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4986 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceReview

Three-Dimensional Carbon Nanostructures for Advanced Lithium-Ion Batteries

by Chiwon Kang, Eunho Cha, Mumukshu D. Patel, H. Felix Wu and Wonbong Choi

C 2016, 2(4), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/c2040023 - 26 Oct 2016

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 9135

Abstract

Carbon nanostructural materials have gained the spotlight as promising anode materials for energy storage; they exhibit unique physico-chemical properties such as large surface area, short Li⁺ ion diffusion length, and high electrical conductivity, in addition to their long-term stability. However, carbon-nanostructured materials have issues with low areal and volumetric densities for the practical applications in electric vehicles, portable electronics, and power grid systems, which demand higher energy and power densities. One approach to overcoming these issues is to design and apply a three-dimensional (3D) electrode accommodating a larger loading amount of active anode materials while facilitating Li⁺ ion diffusion. Furthermore, 3D nanocarbon frameworks can impart a conducting pathway and structural buffer to high-capacity non-carbon nanomaterials, which results in enhanced Li⁺ ion storage capacity. In this paper, we review our recent progress on the design and fabrication of 3D carbon nanostructures, their performance in Li-ion batteries (LIBs), and their implementation into large-scale, lightweight, and flexible LIBs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Batteries: Recent Advances in Carbon Materials)

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C, Volume 2, Issue 4 (December 2016) – 3 articles

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