Porous Carbon Material via Soft Templating for High Yield
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing porous carbonaceous materials face challenges such as low yield, high energy consumption, and contamination issues, particularly in achieving the desired pore structure and surface area for various applications.
Innovation Solution
A process involving a soft-template approach using a carbon source and an amphiphilic species to form a precursor material, which is then heated between 300° C. and 600° C. to produce a porous carbonaceous material with tunable macroporosity and low skeletal density, eliminating the need for a template and reducing processing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If a polymeric foam template is used to produce porous carbon foam, then a three-dimensional interconnected macroporous architecture is obtained, but the yield is reduced and large volumes are required in the reaction vessel
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the polymeric foam template from the process. Instead of using a template that must be removed, the process directly forms porous carbon material where the pore structure is created during carbonization itself, removing the sacrificial template step and improving yield
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the expensive and volume-intensive polymeric foam template with a simpler, more economical approach that does not require large reaction vessel volumes, thereby improving productivity and reducing costs
2Shape
If a polymeric foam template is used to produce porous carbon foam, then a three-dimensional interconnected macroporous architecture is obtained, but large volumes are required in the reaction vessel
Solution Approach 1:
The polymeric foam template is completely removed from the process. The invention forms porous carbon material directly without requiring a template, thereby eliminating the need for large reaction vessel volumes while still achieving the desired macroporous architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the fundamental parameters of the process by eliminating the template step and directly forming porous carbon through controlled carbonization, which reduces the required reaction vessel volume while maintaining the macroporous structure
3Shape
If hydrothermal treatment in an autoclave is performed for self-assembly, then a porous structure is formed, but the processing time is lengthy
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the lengthy hydrothermal treatment step in autoclave. Instead, the porous structure is formed through direct carbonization of the precursor material, which significantly reduces processing time while still achieving the desired porous architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The invention skips the time-consuming hydrothermal treatment step by using a direct carbonization approach that forms the porous structure more rapidly, thereby reducing overall processing time while maintaining structural integrity
4Stability of the object's composition
If high treatment temperatures above 2000°C are used to achieve graphitization, then high crystallinity is obtained, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the temperature parameter from extremely high temperatures (>2000°C) to moderate temperatures (300-600°C), achieving the desired porous carbon structure with significantly lower energy consumption while maintaining compositional stability
Solution Approach 2:
The invention converts the potential harm of high energy consumption into a benefit by using moderate temperatures that are sufficient to create the porous structure without requiring excessive energy, thereby reducing costs and environmental impact
5Object-generated harmful factors
If washing steps are performed to remove pore formers, then contamination is reduced, but processing time and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the washing steps by using a process where the porous structure is formed directly during carbonization without requiring separate pore formers to be removed, thereby reducing processing time and energy consumption while maintaining low contamination
Solution Approach 2:
The invention maintains continuous useful action by combining structure formation and purification into a single carbonization step, eliminating the need for separate washing steps and thereby reducing overall processing time and energy consumption
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The process achieves a high pore volume and low skeletal density, reducing energy consumption and processing time, while also allowing for the production of materials with adjustable porosity suitable for applications in electrochemical energy storage, catalysis, and gas sorption.
Implementation Method 1
a) providing at least one carbon source and at least one amphiphilic species, b) combining at least the carbon source and the amphiphilic species to obtain a precursor material, c) heating the precursor material to a temperature in the range between 300° C. and 600° C. for at least 15 min so as to obtain the porous carbonaceous material
Implementation Method 2
The amphiphilic species decompose at specific temperatures, e.g. beginning at 170° C. or 280 to 320° C., so that the amphiphilic molecules are partly or completely decomposed. The decomposition of amphiphilic molecules leaves interconnected voids that contributes to the macroporosity of the resulting carbon material.
Data Source
AI summary
Known processes for preparing a porous carbonaceous material require lengthy polymerization and washing steps involving solvents or neutralizing agents. The use of high quantities of pore formers leads to a lower carbon yield and higher costs, and use of sulphuric acid leads to sulphur contamination of the final material, but also to corrosion and corrosive by-products and a more complicated handling of the process. In order allows the manufacturing of a porous carbonaceous material with a high pore volume and avoiding the disadvantages of the known methods, a process is provide that comprise the steps of a) providing at least one carbon source and at least one amphiphilic species, b) combining at least the carbon source and the amphiphilic species to obtain a precursor material, c) heating the precursor material to a temperature in the range between 300° C. and 600° C. for at least 15 min so as to obtain a porous carbonaceous material, which is then cooled so as to form the porous carbonaceous material having a modal pore size and a pore volume and a skeleton density.