Showing papers by "Vitaliy L. Budarin published in 2015"
TL;DR: This review will introduce to the reader the most recent and important progress regarding the production of sustainable carbon materials, whilst also highlighting their application in important environmental and energy related fields.
Abstract: Carbon-based structures are the most versatile materials used in the modern field of renewable energy (i.e., in both generation and storage) and environmental science (e.g., purification/remediation). However, there is a need and indeed a desire to develop increasingly more sustainable variants of classical carbon materials (e.g., activated carbons, carbon nanotubes, carbon aerogels, etc.), particularly when the whole life cycle is considered (i.e., from precursor "cradle" to "green" manufacturing and the product end-of-life "grave"). In this regard, and perhaps mimicking in some respects the natural carbon cycles/production, utilization of natural, abundant and more renewable precursors, coupled with simpler, lower energy synthetic processes which can contribute in part to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or the use of toxic elements, can be considered as crucial parameters in the development of sustainable materials manufacturing. Therefore, the synthesis and application of sustainable carbon materials are receiving increasing levels of interest, particularly as application benefits in the context of future energy/chemical industry are becoming recognized. This review will introduce to the reader the most recent and important progress regarding the production of sustainable carbon materials, whilst also highlighting their application in important environmental and energy related fields.
935 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a series of case studies demonstrated that microwave dielectric heating can be a powerful tool to recover and synthesize valuable molecules from a wide range of biomass types.
75 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the conversion of waste office paper (printed or photocopied) to bio-oil via low temperature (<200 °C) microwave-assisted pyrolysis, and its utilisation as an adhesive for aluminium-aluminium bonding are reported.
59 citations
TL;DR: A simpler and more versatile route is developed, using freeze drying to produce highly mesoporous polysaccharide aerogels with various degrees of macroporosity, and an interesting relationship between the mesoporosity and t-butanol/water phase diagram is found.
Abstract: Bio-derived polysaccharide aerogels are of interest for a broad range of applications. To date, these aerogels have been obtained through the time- and solvent-intensive procedure of hydrogel fomation, solvent exchange, and scCO2 drying, which offers little control over meso/macropore distribution. A simpler and more versatile route is developed, using freeze drying to produce highly mesoporous polysaccharide aerogels with various degrees of macroporosity. The hierarchical pore distribution is controlled by addition of different quantities of t-butanol (TBA) to hydrogels before drying. Through a systematic study an interesting relationship between the mesoporosity and t-butanol/water phase diagram is found, linking mesoporosity maxima with eutectic points for all polysaccharides studied (pectin, starch, and alginic acid). Moreover, direct gelation of polysaccharides in aqueous TBA offers additional time savings and the potential for solvent reuse. This finding is a doorway to more accessible polysaccharide aerogels for research and industrial scale production, due to the widespread accessibility of the freeze drying technology and the simplicity of the method.
55 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated two biochar samples produced from conventional pyrolysis of wood biomass (yield of bio-char: 38.48 and 59.70% respectively).
54 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the formation, characterization and application of starch-derived carbonaceous mesoporous materials (Starbon®) for the selective adsorption and recovery of critical metals (Au3+, Pt2+ and Pd2+) has been described.
50 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a modification mechanism is also proposed: silica samples are impregnated with bio-oil (generated from the pyrolysis of waste paper) until the pores are filled, followed by the carbonization at a series of temperatures.
Abstract: Bio-oil has successfully been utilized to prepare carbon-silica composites (CSCs) from mesoporous silicas, such as SBA-15, MCM-41, KIT-6 and MMSBA frameworks. These CSCs comprise a thin film of carbon dispersed over the silica matrix and exhibit porosity similar to the parent silica. The surface properties of the resulting materials can be simply tuned by the variation of preparation temperatures leading to a continuum of functionalities ranging from polar hydroxyl rich surfaces to carbonaceous aromatic surfaces, as reflected in solid state NMR, XPS and DRIFT analysis. N2 porosimetry, TEM and SEM images demonstrate that the composites still possess similar ordered mesostructures to the parent silica sample. The modification mechanism is also proposed: silica samples are impregnated with bio-oils (generated from the pyrolysis of waste paper) until the pores are filled, followed by the carbonization at a series of temperatures. Increasing temperature leads to the formation of a carbonaceous layer over the silica surface. The complex mixture of compounds within the bio-oil (including those molecules containing alcohols, aliphatics, carbonyls and aromatics) gives rise to the functionality of the CSCs.
14 citations
TL;DR: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first example of mesoporous lignin with an appreciable surface area that is produced directly from a bio-refinery process and with further textural modification of the material demonstrated.
Abstract: The lignin by-product of the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to 5-(chloromethyl)furfural (CMF) has been characterised by thermogravimetric analysis, N2 physisorption porosimetry, attenuated internal reflectance IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis and solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The lignin (LCMF) has a moderate level of mesoporosity before thermal treatment and a surface area of 63 m(2) g(-1) , which increases dramatically on pyrolysis at temperatures above 400 °C. An assessment of the functionality and textural properties of the material was achieved by analysing LCMF treated thermally over a range of pyrolysis temperatures. Samples were sulfonated to test their potential as heterogeneous acid catalysts in the esterification of levulinic acid. It was shown that unpyrolysed catalysts gave the highest ester yields of up to 93 %. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of mesoporous lignin with an appreciable surface area that is produced directly from a bio-refinery process and with further textural modification of the material demonstrated.
11 citations
TL;DR: The Starbon 400-HSO 3 was used as a green and easily recovered mesoporous carbonaceous solid acid catalyst and applied for the first time to more complex naturally-derived substrates, such as steroids as discussed by the authors.
8 citations
16 Mar 2015
5 citations
Patent•
15 Sep 2015TL;DR: In this paper, a mesoporous composite material comprising carbon nanoparticles dispersed in a mesophorous carbonaceous material is described, which is a mixture of carbon and carbon dioxide.
Abstract: There is described a mesoporous composite material comprising carbon nanoparticles dispersed in a mesoporous carbonaceous material.
11 Feb 2015
TL;DR: In this paper, a combination of techniques, such as, TG supplemented by TGIR, XPS and Boehm titration, with various solid-state NMR methodologies can permit a comprehensive understanding of both their bulk and surface characteristics.
Abstract: It is difficult to fully characterise the surface chemistry and properties of the complex materials that are carbons. These can range from amorphous-based activated carbons to organised graphene, carbon nanotubes and other forms. However, a combination of techniques, such as, TG supplemented by TGIR, XPS and Boehm titration, bromination with various solid-state NMR methodologies can permit a comprehensive understanding of both their bulk and surface characteristics. The application of these techniques in the characterisation of both the bulk and surface features of carbon-based materials will be presented and discussed ADDIN EN.REFLIST .
11 Feb 2015
TL;DR: The Starbon® materials concept as discussed by the authors is a top-down synthetic approach to the synthesis of carbon-based porous materials that can be easily tuned to address the catalytic and separation challenges of future energy and chemical provision schemes (e.g. the Methanol economy or Biorefinery schemes).
Abstract: Many commercially employed carbon materials are typically hydrophobic, chemically inert and microporous. Therefore, with an eye to the future, there is a need to develop new, carbon-based porous materials, the properties of which can be easily tuned to address the catalytic and separation challenges of future energy and chemical provision schemes (e.g. the Methanol Economy or Biorefinery schemes). In this regard, the synthesis of such materials must be conducted in as sustainable a manner as possible, ideally providing a flexible platform upon which to tailor properties such as functionality, porosity at different length scales (e.g. micro-, meso-, and macroporosity), hydrophilic character and macrophology (e.g. monoliths, particulates, etc.) amongst others. This chapter therefore aims to introduce one top-down synthetic approach to this end, the Starbon® materials concept. An accompanying material development history will be provided followed by a review of the variety of interesting functionally rich, highly mesoporous, high surface area (e.g. > 0.5 cm3 g–1; > 200 m2 g–1) carbonaceous materials that are accessible via the development of porous polysaccharide-derived materials and their subsequent carbonaceous derivatives. The chapter intends to provide the reader with an overview of the exciting opportunities that are open to the carbon materials chemist based on the discussed synthetic approach.
11 Feb 2015
TL;DR: This chapter aims to provide the reader with an overview of a number of developing approaches to the production of porous carbons from sustainable precursors and the use of the resulting carbons synthesised based on these approaches in applications including energy storage, energy generation and purification/remediation.
Abstract: To conclude the book, this chapter aims to provide the reader with an overview of a number of developing approaches to the production of porous carbons from sustainable precursors. Discussion will focus predominantly on the production of carbon-based materials from bacterial cellulose, lignins, tannins and finally to examine the possibility of employing ionic liquids. The relative merits of the approaches discussed will also be highlighted. The use of the resulting carbons synthesised based on these approaches in applications including energy storage, energy generation and purification/remediation will also be briefly discussed. Finally, the chapter will conclude with an overview of the latest developments regarding the commercialisation of the approaches to the synthesis of porous carbons from sustainable precursors discussed in this book will also be provided.