Sustainable Mesoporous Carbons as Storage and Controlled-Delivery
Media for Functional Molecules
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Abstract
Here,
we report the synthesis of surfactant-templated mesoporous carbons
from lignin, which is a biomass-derived polymeric precursor, and their
potential use as a controlled-release medium for functional molecules
such as pharmaceuticals. To the best of our knowledge, this is the
first report on the use of lignin for chemical-activation-free synthesis
of functional mesoporous carbon. The synthesized carbons possess the
pore widths within the range of 2.5–12.0 nm. In this series
of mesoporous carbons, our best result demonstrates a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller
(BET) surface area of 418 m<sup>2</sup>/g and a mesopore volume of
0.34 cm<sup>3</sup>/g, which is twice the micropore volume in this
carbon. Because of the dominant mesoporosity, this engineered carbon
demonstrates adsorption and controlled release of a representative
pharmaceutical drug, captopril, in simulated gastric fluid. Large-scale
utilization of these sustainable mesoporous carbons in applications
involving adsorption, transport, and controlled release of functional
molecules is desired for industrial processes that yield lignin as
a coproduct