title: Sustainable mesoporous carbons as storage and controlled-delivery media for functional molecules.
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(2)/g and a mesopore volume of 0.34 cm(3)/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.
authors.affiliation: Carbon and Composites Group, Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA.
authors.forename: Dipendu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.forename: E Andrew
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Payzant
authors.forename: Amar S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Kumbhar
authors.forename: Amit K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Naskar
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002216:Captopril / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000737:chemistry*; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010316:Particle Size; D016062:Porosity; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D013818:Thermogravimetry
chemical_list: D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D002244:Carbon; D008031:Lignin; D002216:Captopril