title: Controlling porosity in lignin-derived nanoporous carbon for supercapacitor applications.
abstract: Low-cost renewable lignin has been used as a precursor to produce porous carbons. However, to date, it has not been easy to obtain high surface area porous carbon without activation processes or templating agents. Here, we demonstrate that low molecular weight lignin yields highly porous carbon with more graphitization through direct carbonization without additional activation processes or templating agents. We found that molecular weight and oxygen consumption during carbonization are critical factors to obtain high surface area, graphitized porous carbons. This highly porous carbon from low-cost renewable lignin sources is a good candidate for supercapacitor electrode materials.
authors.affiliation: Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, WA 99354 (USA); Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, 3122 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3122 (USA).
authors.forename: Ju-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Libing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jodie L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Lutkenhaus
authors.forename: Dhrubojyoti D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Laskar
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lemmon
authors.forename: Daiwon
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Manjula I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Nandasiri
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hashmi
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Radha K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Motkuri
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Melvin P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: McGrail
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Satish K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Nune
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D025802:Electric Capacitance; D004563:Electrochemistry; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D008970:Molecular Weight; D058608:Nanopores; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon; D008031:Lignin; D010100:Oxygen
keywords: carbonization; lignin; porous carbon; supercapacitor; sustainable materials