Catalytic performance of carbonaceous materials in the esterification of succinic acid

Mesoporous carbonaceous materials have outstanding potential in many different applications such as adsorption, medicine and catalysis. We have recently reported the synthesis of a new form of mesoporous carbon, named Starbon((R)), obtained after low temperature carbonization of expanded starch. Such starch-derived mesoporous materials have several tunable properties including surface energies (ranging from hydrophilic to hydrophobic surfaces), which can be easily controlled by the degree of carbonization (from 200 to 700 degrees C). Due to the diversity of surface functional groups, Starbons((R)) can be easily chemically modified. Treatment of Starbon((R)) materials with sulfuric acid gave a solid acid that has promising properties as heterogeneous catalyst. Comparative catalytic studies with some other similar commercial carbonaceous materials such as DARCO((R)) and NORIT (R), as well as phosphorous-containing microporous carbons, are reported. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Biomass-derived three-dimensional porous N-doped carbonaceous aerogel for efficient supercapacitor electrodes

Functionalized carbonaceous materials with hierarchical structure and developed porosity are highly desired in energy storage and conversion fields. In this work, a facile and scalable hydrothermal methodology was established to synthesise three-dimensional (3D) N-doped carbonaceous aerogels using biomass-based starting materials and polypyrrole as N-source. The effect of different calcination temperatures on the structural properties, type and content of N-species and electrochemical performance of the 3D N-doped carbonaceous aerogels were uncovered. Thanks to the combinatorial effect of the appropriate N content and porous structure, the obtained samples exhibited excellent electrochemical performance, in particular, an outstanding specific capacitance of 281.0 F g-1 achieved on the sample calcined at 600 °C. This methodology offers a new fabrication strategy to prepare nanoscale carbonaceous materials with desirable morphology and hierarchical architecture of great potentials for the applications in energy fields

Carbon offers advantages as implant material in human body

Because of such characteristics as high strength and long-term biocompatability, aerospace carbonaceous materials may be used as surgical implants to correct pathological conditions in the body resulting from disease or injury. Examples of possible medical uses include bone replacement, implantation splints and circulatory bypass implants

Effect of the addition of different waste carbonaceous materials on coal gasification in CO2 atmosphere

YesIn order to evaluate the feasibility of using CO2 as a gasifying agent in the conversion of carbonaceous materials to syngas, gasification characteristics of coal, a suite of waste carbonaceous materials, and their blends were studied by using a thermogravimetric analyser (TGA). The results showed that CO2 gasification of polystyrene completed at 470 °C, which was lower than those of other carbonaceous materials. This behaviour was attributed to the high volatile content coupled with its unique thermal degradation properties. It was found that the initial decomposition temperature of blends decreased with the increasing amount of waste carbonaceous materials in the blends. In this study, results demonstrated that CO2 co-gasification process was enhanced as a direct consequence of interactions between coal and carbonaceous materials in the blends. The intensity and temperature of occurrence of these interactions were influenced by the chemical properties and composition of the carbonaceous materials in the blends. The strongest interactions were observed in coal/polystyrene blend at the devolatilisation stage as indicated by the highest value of Root Mean Square Interaction Index (RMSII), which was due to the highly reactive nature of polystyrene. On the other hand, coal/oat straw blend showed the highest interactions at char gasification stage. The catalytic effect of alkali metals and other minerals in oat straw, such as CaO, K2O, and Fe2O3, contributed to these strong interactions. The overall CO2 gasification of coal was enhanced via the addition of polystyrene and oat straw

Raman properties of various carbonaceous materials and their astrophysical implications

It is well known that a large number of celestial objects exhibit, in the range 3 to 12 micron, a family of emission features called unidentified infrared bands (UIR). They usually appear together and are associated with UV sources. Recently various authors have suggested that these features could be attributed to solid carbonaceous materials. Following this interest, a systematic analysis was performed of various types of amorphous carbon grains and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), produced in lab. Updating results of Raman measurements performed on several carbonaceous materials, chosen according to their astrophysical interest, are presented. The measurements were made by means of a Jobin-Yvon monochromator HG2S and standard DC electronic. The line at 5145 A of an Ar+ laser was used as excitation source

Study on the surface features of Preg-Robbing carbonaceous matter during oxidation treatment

Carbonaceous gold ores have the ability to adsorb gold (I) cyanide from leach solutions during processing. This phenomenon, known as preg-robbing, is responsible for poor recoveries as the carbonaceous materials of the ore compete with activated carbon used during the leaching and adsorption phase of processing. Chemical oxidation of carbonaceous materials by different reagents has been utilized to investigate and compare the mechanism of Au (CN)2 adsorption onto carbonaceous materials prior to and following the treatment. The procedure for characterization of the carbonaceous materials (plain and modified) in the sample combines the use of several analytical techniques and test assays such as Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), Raman spectroscopy, Ultraviolet visible (UV-Vis) and Atomic Absorption (AA) in order to provide complete information on all the variables affecting preg-robbing capacity, namely its composition, degree of C disorder, surface area and surface chemistry. This thesis investigated the surface chemistry and surface structure of various carbonaceous materials in the context of factors governing adsorption characteristics towards providing a better estimation of the preg-robbing capacity and strategies for its reduction

Influences of carbonaceous materials on the quality of hematite ore pellets

Pellet in duration at high temperature for its hardening is an energy intensive process. Especially, for hematite ore pellet a very high in duration temperature (say 1325oC) is required to obtain the sufficient strength due to the absence of exothermic heat unlike magnetite ore. Therefore, in order to reduce the external energy requirement carbonaceous materials are added to supply in-situ energy on in duration. In the present study, different carbonaceous materials viz. Jhama coal, blast furnace flue dust, and coke powder have been added in pelletization of hematite ore fines to reduce the external energy requirement and to utilize the waste carbonaceous materials. It has been observed that green pellets’ properties are within acceptable limits which are not affected by the presence of the carbonaceous material. The cold compressive strength (CCS) of pellets increases with increasing in duration temperature. The furnace-cooled pellets show more strength than air-cooling. Blast Furnace flue dust added pellets show highest CCS among other carbonaceous material added in pellets which is 2515 N /pellet at 1280◦C. RI and RDI has also been influenced by the addition of other carbonaceous materials

Application of sludge-based carbonaceous materials in a hybrid water treatment process based on adsorption and catalytic wet air oxidation

This paper describes a preliminary evaluation of the performance of carbonaceous materials prepared from sewage sludges (SBCMs) in a hybrid water treatment process based on adsorption and catalytic wet air oxidation; phenol was used as the model pollutant. Three different sewage sludges were treated by either carbonisation or steam activation, and the physico-chemical properties of the resultant carbonaceous materials (e.g. hardness, BET surface area, ash and elemental content, surface chemistry) were evaluated and compared with a commercial reference activated carbon (PICA F22). The adsorption capacity for phenol of the SBCMs was greater than suggested by their BET surface area, but less than F22; a steam activated, dewatered raw sludge (SA_DRAW) had the greatest adsorption capacity of the SBCMs in the investigated range of concentrations (<0.05 mol L−1). In batch oxidation tests, the SBCMs demonstrated catalytic behaviour arising from their substrate adsorptivity and metal content. Recycling of SA_DRAW in successive oxidations led to significant structural attrition and a hardened SA_DRAW was evaluated, but found to be unsatisfactory during the oxidation step. In a combined adsorption–oxidation sequence, both the PICA carbon and a selected SBCM showed deterioration in phenol adsorption after oxidative regeneration, but a steady state performance was reached after 2 or 3 cycles

Carbonaceous materials : the beauty of simplicity

The current mandates of a sustainable society and circular economy lead to the request that materials chemistry, but also chemistry as such, has to become significantly redesigned. Changes include commonplaces as the glassware we use, the minimization of wastes and side products or replacement strategies in the materials choice, among others. In this context, “carbons” are very versatile and already have found their place in a myriad of applications for a “carbon-neutral” society. They already take key enabling positions for sensors and biomaterials preparation, as energy conversion and storage electrode, or as effluent remediation sorbents. Herein, we describe how carbon chemistry can be again re-designed to outperform benchmark materials in a number of fields, especially in energy storage, (electro)catalysis, as sorbent, but also in a new chemistry of the confined state