Engineered Monolithic Biocarbon as Next Generation Low-cost High-performance Nanoporous Carbon Materials for Sustainability

工程整体生物碳作为下一代低成本高性能纳米多孔碳材料，实现可持续发展

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-05827
• 负责人: Jia, Charles
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=717945
• 关键词: Engineered; Monolithic; Biocarbon; Next; Generation

Biocarbon is related to biochar as both are rooted in biomass, but differs in their carbon contents (biocarbon > 90 wt% C vs biochar ~ 60-80 wt% C) and in their intended applications. Biocarbon monoliths, specifically, have a continuous carbon matrix and morphological features that resemble their biomass precursors. Chemically and structurally, it belongs to the family of nanoporous carbons (NPCs) in which carbon nanotubes (CNTs) bundles or forests and integrated graphene sheets (IGSs) are well-known members. While biochar has been widely used for soil amendment and as carbon-neutral solid fuel since ancient time, the research in biocarbon monoliths as a functional material is still at its infancy. It took nature multiple millions of years to develop and perfect the hierarchical, inter-connected morphological structures that efficiently deliver water and nutrients from root to individual cells and support the life of biota such as a tree. When biomass is transformed into biocarbon, much of these morphological features are preserved. The long-term, overarching goal of this research program is to transform woody biomass a hugely abundant, under-exploited natural resource into engineered biocarbon monoliths - a new class of low-cost, high-performance nanoporous carbon materials, for a wide range of applications including novel water purification technologies and large-scale high-efficiency energy storage devices. The anticipated advances will lead to the creation of a new class of NPC materials that is more cost-effective and readily scalable. They can be used to directly address two of the greatest challenges the world is facing - sustainable energy supply and climate change. The creation and deployment of engineered biocarbon monoliths will substantially lower the cost and enhance the performance of NPC materials in existing and emerging applications and potentially open completely new application areas. For example, engineered biocarbon monoliths will enable the large-scale, high-performance energy storage devices that facilitate the high-efficiency utilization of energy from renewable sources (e.g. solar and wind). Since carbon in biocarbon originates from the atmosphere and is chemically stable under ambient condition, the large-scale utilization of biocarbon and, biochar in general, represents a new strategy for alleviating climate change. The anticipated advances from this research program will help make this new strategy even more impactful. This research program not only possesses tremendous innovation potential in creating new materials and technologies, but also is particularly relevant to Canada - a country blessed with rich biomass resources from forestry and agriculture sectors.

生物碳与生物炭相关，因为两者都植根于生物质，但它们的碳含量不同（生物碳> 90重量% C，生物炭约60-80重量% C），并且它们的预期应用也不同。 具体地说，生物碳整料具有连续的碳基质和类似于其生物质前体的形态特征。在化学和结构上，它属于纳米多孔碳（NPC）家族，其中碳纳米管（CNT）束或森林和集成石墨烯片（IGS）是众所周知的成员。生物炭作为土壤改良剂和碳中性固体燃料自古以来就被广泛应用，但作为功能材料的生物炭块体的研究还处于起步阶段。大自然花了数百万年的时间来发展和完善分层的、相互连接的形态结构，这些结构有效地将水和营养物质从根部输送到单个细胞，并支持树木等生物群的生命。 当生物质转化为生物碳时，这些形态特征中的大部分被保留下来。 该研究计划的长期总体目标是将木质生物质（一种非常丰富，未开发的自然资源）转化为工程生物碳整体-一种新型低成本，高性能的纳米多孔碳材料，用于广泛的应用，包括新型水净化技术和大规模高效储能设备。 预期的进展将导致创造一种新的NPC材料，这种材料更具成本效益，易于扩展。 它们可以用来直接应对世界面临的两大挑战--可持续能源供应和气候变化。 工程生物碳整体的创建和部署将大大降低成本，提高NPC材料在现有和新兴应用中的性能，并可能开辟全新的应用领域。例如，工程生物碳块体将实现大规模，高性能的能量存储设备，促进可再生能源（如太阳能和风能）的高效利用。 由于生物碳中的碳来源于大气，并且在环境条件下化学稳定，因此大规模利用生物碳和生物炭代表了缓解气候变化的新策略。 这项研究计划的预期进展将有助于使这一新战略更具影响力。 该研究计划不仅在创造新材料和新技术方面具有巨大的创新潜力，而且与加拿大-一个拥有丰富的林业和农业生物质资源的国家特别相关。