Synthesis of advanced carbon materials from waste biomass and their applications in energy and electronic devices

生物质前体越来越多地用于生产生物燃料和生物材料。在本世纪，人们在开发先进的碳材料方面做出了重大努力，这些材料在电子和能源设备中的应用正在融入现代生活。电磁和电化学性质是这些器件感兴趣的一些主要性质。碳材料由于其良好的导电性、可调节的多孔结构以及良好的抗化学和热侵蚀性能，在能源和电子设备中具有潜在的应用前景。碳泡沫和碳超级电容器是先进的碳材料在能源和电子设备中应用的例子。利用泡沫碳吸收电磁辐射，可以应用于电子设备中，保护设备使用者。碳超级电容器的电化学性质使其成为有效的储能材料。在加拿大，有大量的农业废物(如油菜籽壳和燕麦壳)和来自鱼类加工业的湿固体生物废物。在拟议的研究中，这些固体废物将被用作合成高质量碳产品的主要原料。水热工艺(在亚临界和超临界条件下)将用于将这些原料转化为浓缩碳产品，即加氢焦化。然后，对加氢焦分别进行活化和化学处理等后处理，以形成适合能源和电子设备中碳材料性能所需的多孔结构和适当的化学特性。碳材料将使用化学活化技术进行修饰，以形成微孔和介孔结构。然后，为了提高储能能力，将对碳材料的非碳元素(如N、O和S)和表面化学进行化学和热化学处理。在拟议研究的实验活动的每个阶段，将对这些材料进行表征，以评估其化学、物理和结构性能。这项研究计划的长期目标是建立一个科学框架，用于从生物废弃物中开发先进的碳材料，并将其应用于能源储存和电子设备等现代生活领域。拟议研究的短期(5年)目标是使用木质纤维和非木质纤维类型的生物废弃物来生产碳泡沫和碳超级电容器。这项工作的重点是优化现有的应用工艺，研究碳材料的结构特征与产品性能之间的关系。具体地说，将广泛研究孔结构(微孔和中孔)、表面化学和非碳元素在碳基质中的渗透程度的影响。

Biomass precursors are being used increasingly for production of biofuels and bio-materials. In this century, there has been significant effort to develop advanced carbon materials with applications in electronic and energy devices which are being integrated into modern life. The electromagnetic and electrochemical properties are some of the major properties of interest for these devices. Carbon materials, due to their suitable electrical conductivity, adjustable porous structure, as well as excellent resistance against chemical and thermal attacks, can be potentially used for different applications in energy and electronic devices. Carbon foams and carbon supercapacitors are examples of  advanced carbon material with application in energy and electronic devices. Absorbing electromagnetic radiation by carbon foam can be used in electronic devices to protect the equipment users. Electrochemical properties of carbon supercapacitors make them effective energy storage materials. In Canada, large amounts of agricultural waste (such as canola hulls and oat hulls) and wet solid bio-wastes from the fish processing industry are available. In the proposed research, these solid wastes will be used as the  feedstocks for synthesis of high quality carbon products. Hydro-thermal processes (at sub-critical and super-critical conditions) will be used for converting these feedstocks to concentrated carbon product, namely hydrochar. Then, post-treatments, such as activation and chemical treatments, respectively, will be applied to hydrochar for the development of porous structure and appropriate chemical characteristics required for suitable performance of carbon materials in energy and electronic devices. The carbon material will be modified using chemical activation techniques to develop both microporous and mesoporous structures. Then, to improve energy storage capacity, non-carbon elements (such as N, O, and S) and surface chemistry of carbon material will be modified using chemical and thermo-chemical treatments. Characterization of these materials will be undertaken to evaluate their chemical, physical, and structural properties at each phase of experimental activities of the proposed research. The long-term goal of this research program is to establish a scientific framework for development of advanced carbon materials from biowastes with application in the modern-life fields such as energy storage and electronic devices. The short-term (5-year) goal of the proposed research is to use lignocellulosic and non-lignocellulosic types of biowaste for production of carbon foams and carbon supercapacitors. This work focuses on the optimization of  applied processes and study of  relationship between carbon materials' structural characteristics and product performance. Specifically, effects of porous structure (micropores and mesopores), surface chemistry, and the level of non-carbon elements' penetration in the carbon matrix will be studied extensively.