Bio-sourced mesoporous carbon doped with heteroatoms (N,S) synthesised using one-step hydrothermal process for water remediation

• Mesoporous carbon xerogel doped with N, S or dual doped have been fabricated.
• Doping and mesoporosity are developed via one pot hydrothermal process.
• The precursors are biobased chemicals containing the atomic building blocks.
• The mesopore average diameter depends on the type of heteroatom.
• Mesoporosity and doping enhanced the capture of bulky dye molecules in aqueous phase.

Mesoporous carbon monoliths doped with nitrogen, sulphur or both have been prepared in one step hydrothermal carbonization from bio-based precursors. Glucose and pyrrole carboxaldehyde or glucose and thiophene carboxaldehyde aqueous solutions have been used as precursors for nitrogen and sulphur doped carbon materials, respectively. In the same hydrothermal process, a salt-templating approach was used to endow the material with mesoporosity. Additionally, the materials were also pyrolysed in N2 at 973 K. The average mesopore size of resulting xerogels is tuned by the used dopant. Both the doping and mesoporosity enhanced substantially the adsorption of large dye molecules. Accordingly, these metal-free, cost-effective and sustainable materials are excellent candidates for liquid phase environmental and energy applications where the dopant may play a role as catalytic active phase or electronic modulator.

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