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Title: Sustainable Energy-Storage Materials from Lignin-Graphene Nanocomposite-Derived Porous Carbon Film

Journal Article · · Energy Technology
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [1];  [2]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Materials Science and Technology Division
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Materials Science and Technology Division; Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science and Neutron Science Directorate
  4. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science
+ Show Author Affiliations

We present a simple, green approach to fabricating porous free-standing carbon films. An alkaline solution of low-cost, renewable lignin and graphene oxide (GO) is cast, followed by simultaneous carbonization and activation. Lignin, which is the least valued product from several biomass processing industries, is an efficient source of carbon when used as an intercalating agent to separate graphene sheets derived from homogeneous GO/lignin nanocomposite films prepared from an aqueous alkaline (KOH) solution. After thermal treatment the GO/lignin films show complete dispersion of reduced GO sheets within amorphous lignin-derived carbon. Furthermore, the presence of KOH in the film produces activated carbon. The resulting activated carbon films display a specific surface area of up to 1744 m2 g 1 and consist of a balance of pore volumes with pore sizes below and above 1 nm. A two-electrode supercapacitor composed of these films in an aqueous electrolyte exhibits near-ideal capacitive behavior at an ultrahigh scan rate of 1 V s 1, while maintaining an excellent specific capacitance of 162 F g 1. Such outstanding performance of renewable carbon as a supercapacitor, in addition to the ease of electrode fabrication from a precursor containing 85 % lignin, offers a novel method for valorization of lignin-rich byproduct streams from biomass processing industries.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1362202
Journal Information:
Energy Technology, Vol. 5; ISSN 2194-4288
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 23 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (5)

A Solvent-Free Synthesis of Lignin-Derived Renewable Carbon with Tunable Porosity for Supercapacitor Electrodes journal July 2018
Lignin-derived heteroatom-doped porous carbons for supercapacitor and CO 2 capture applications journal April 2018
Amending the Structure of Renewable Carbon from Biorefinery Waste-Streams for Energy Storage Applications journal May 2018
Simple and scalable synthesis of hierarchical porous carbon derived from cornstalk without pith for high capacitance and energy density journal January 2020
Alternatives for Chemical and Biochemical Lignin Valorization: Hot Topics from a Bibliometric Analysis of the Research Published During the 2000–2016 Period journal July 2018

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