Mechanochemistry-assisted synthesis of hierarchical porous carbons applied as supercapacitors

Abstract

A solvent-free synthesis of hierarchical porous carbons is conducted by a facile and fast mechanochemical reaction in a ball mill. By means of a mechanochemical ball-milling approach, we obtained titanium(IV) citrate-based polymers, which have been processed via high temperature chlorine treatment to hierarchical porous carbons with a high specific surface area of up to 1814 m2 g−1 and well-defined pore structures. The carbons are applied as electrode materials in electric double-layer capacitors showing high specific capacitances with 98 F g−1 in organic and 138 F g−1 in an ionic liquid electrolyte as well as good rate capabilities, maintaining 87% of the initial capacitance with 1 M TEA-BF4 in acetonitrile (ACN) and 81% at 10 A g−1 in EMIM-BF4.

Nitrogen‐Doped Biomass‐Derived Carbon Formed by Mechanochemical Synthesis for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

“…Mechanochemical syntheses rely on the input of mechanical energy to initiate chemical reactions, for instance by grinding solids in high‐energy ball mills. In contrast to many conventional syntheses, mechanochemical pathways allow the production of materials without the use of any solvent, with high yields, short reaction times, and easy scalability …”

“…Porous carbon materials have gained extensive interest in many energy and environmentally relevant applications,s uch as catalysis, [1][2][3] gas sorption/separation, [4][5][6] and electrochemical energy storage. [7][8][9][10] Although on an industrial scale, activated carbonsa re by far the most commonly used materials, current academic research has steadily evolved towards advanced carbon structures such as templatedc arbons, [11,12] graphene, [13] carbon onions( onion-like carbon, OLC), [14][15][16] or carbonn anotubes (CNTs). [17] These materials are designed to meet the exact requirementso ft he final applications, which in the field of electrochemical energy storagem eans ah igh surface area, a high electrical conductivity,a nd an optimal electrolyte carbon interaction, resulting in ap referred mass transport.…”

“…[48][49][50][51][52] Mechanochemicals yntheses rely on the input of mechanicale nergy to initiate chemical reactions, for instanceb yg rinding solids in high-energy ball mills. In contrastt om any conventionals yntheses, mechanochemical pathwaysa llow the production of materials without the use of any solvent, [53,54] with high yields, [55,56] short reaction times, [12,57] and easy scalability. [58] In ap reviouss tudy, [59] we developed am echanochemical synthesis concept based on commercially available Kraft lignin, urea, and potassium carbonate to synthesize nitrogen-doped porousc arbons and showcasedt heir applicabilitya ss upercapacitore lectrode materials.…”

Mechanochemical synthesis of N-doped porous carbon at room temperature

“…Porous carbons have already been synthesized by mechanochemistry, among them ordered mesoporous carbons, 25,36 and nitrogen-doped carbons. 4,37,38 However, a crucial step in all of these syntheses is a subsequent heat temperature treatment to facilitate carbonization and to derive a graphitic conductive structure.…”

Mechanochemical Functionalization of Carbon Black at Room Temperature

“…Moreover, mechanochemistry has been shown to enable unexpected reactions, like the dimerization of fullerenes [28]. In addition, reactions can take place within a few minutes, with low technical effort [29] and without the presence of solvents [30,31]. The latter displays a major economic and ecological advantage, since a lot of waste can be avoided [32].…”