Lei Hong, Wu Yao, Yang Sen, Fu Chunfang, Huo Jichuan
State Key Laboratory for Environment-friendly Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology Mianyang 621010 People's Republic of China
RSC Adv. 2018 Sep 19;8(57):32522-32532. doi: 10.1039/c8ra06741d. eCollection 2018 Sep 18.
Preparation of new materials from biomass is good for sustainable development. Carbon/carbonaceous foams (CFs), as important materials widely applied in both military and civil use, are usually made from nonrenewable materials at high temperature (usually over 1000 °C) and high pressure (at MPa magnitude). Although some biomass raw materials have been used, there is still a fascinating issue waiting to be discussed. That is, what kind of biomass would be suitable for making CFs, or what the biggest challenge might be if these raw materials are used. Herein, a CF with advanced compressibility was made from starch with a simple and energy efficient strategy. The product can be made at much lower temperature (below 500 °C) and pressure (∼190 Pa) than conventional strategies. The understanding of the conversion mechanism provides inspiration for the conversion of other biomass into value-added carbonaceous materials. Due to the presence of reactive groups on the surface of the as-prepared CF, the product can be further modified or used as a substrate to prepare composites for catalysis, phase change energy storage, sensors, water purification, and so on. In this work, its potential application in oil/water separation was demonstrated.
利用生物质制备新材料有利于可持续发展。碳/碳质泡沫（CFs）作为广泛应用于军事和民用的重要材料，通常由不可再生材料在高温（通常超过1000°C）和高压（兆帕量级）下制成。尽管已经使用了一些生物质原料，但仍有一个引人关注的问题有待探讨。也就是说，哪种生物质适合制备CFs，或者使用这些原料可能面临的最大挑战是什么。在此，采用一种简单且节能的策略，以淀粉制备出具有优异压缩性的CFs。与传统策略相比，该产品的制备温度（低于500°C）和压力（约190 Pa）要低得多。对转化机制的理解为将其他生物质转化为增值碳质材料提供了灵感。由于所制备的CFs表面存在反应基团，该产品可进一步改性或用作制备催化、相变储能、传感器、水净化等复合材料的基材。在这项工作中，展示了其在油/水分离中的潜在应用。
