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Transition metal assisted ionothermal carbonization of cellulose towards high yield and recycling

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Abstract

A sustainable natural polymer, cellulose, has been used as precursor for producing carbonaceous materials. Ionothermal carbonization (ITC) in ionic liquid (IL) could transform biomass into functional carbon materials at a relatively low temperature. In order to improve the ITC carbon yields and structures, the first raw transition metal chlorides were added into IL, 1-Butyl-3-methyl-imidazole chloride (BmimCl), and their catalyzing effects were compared. It is found that the catalyzing effects of transition metal chlorides are mainly correlated to their cation size. With the addition of 0.5wt% NiCl2 (based on IL), a high carbon yield of 94wt% is obtained. Additionally, the bio-based carbonaceous materials exhibit a higher graphitization degree with the addition of metal chloride. Furthermore, the IL shows good cyclability, and the carbon yield remains to be higher than 80 wt% after 5 cycles.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support by One Hundred Person Project of the Shanxi province, Science Foundation of Shanxi Province, China (Grant Nos. 201903D121006 and 201901D111006ZD).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 27 Taoyuan South Road, Taiyuan, 030001, China

    **aoru Gao, Yuxiu Yu, Qian He, Haojie Li & Yaodong Liu

  2. Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei**g, 100049, China

    **aoru Gao, Qian He & Haojie Li

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, Bei**g, 100049, China

    **aoru Gao, Qian He, Haojie Li & Yaodong Liu

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Gao, X., Yu, Y., He, Q. et al. Transition metal assisted ionothermal carbonization of cellulose towards high yield and recycling. Cellulose 28, 4025–4037 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-021-03808-8

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