Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
677148 | Biomass and Bioenergy | 2012 | 10 Pages |
Highly porous carbons were obtained from solid wastes generated in the chemical and the mechanical processing of birch wood (substandard kraft cellulose, hydrolysis lignin, chips and bark). NaOH-chemical activation of these residues at 575–800 °C resulted in an efficient process to produce carbons with specific surface areas well above 1000 m2 g−1 and average pore widths of 1–1.7 nm.Comparative evaluations have shown the potentiality of wood wastes-based carbons in applications related to environmental protection. Activated carbons derived from chips- and bark-birch wood displayed specific capacitances as high as 308 F g−1 in the H2SO4 aqueous electrolyte and 200 F g−1 in the (C2H5)4NBF4/acetonitrile organic medium. Moreover, their capacitive performance at high current density competed well with that found for commercial carbons used in supercapacitors.Wood-derived carbons also proved to be highly promising for CO2 capture in power stations, achieving uptakes under post- and pre-combustion conditions of 11–16 wt.% and 49–91 wt.%, respectively.
► Wastes from birch-wood processing resulted suitable precursors of nanoporous carbons. ► NaOH-activation led to carbons with areas above 1100 m2 g−1 and pores of 1–1.7 nm ► Wood based-carbons are promising as electrodes in supercapacitor. ► Nanoporous carbons present high potentiality as adsorbents for CO2 capture.