(270a) Graphitic Bio-Carbon from Lignin Biomass Synthesized with Nickel Nitrate Catalyst

Abstract

Lignin is a high volume byproduct of pulp production that is currently used as an energy supply. In this current work, graphitic porous carbon materials synthesized from lignin in the presence of nickel nitrate as a catalyst.  The synthesis scheme of graphitic carbon consists of i) lignin was subjected to a hydrothermal treatment in a unique sonication reactor at 275  °C  around and 1400 psi to form bio-char, ii) the bio-char was impregnated with nickel nitrate and carbonized at temperature ranged from 800 to 1100 °C under an inert atmosphere, iii) the resulting graphitic carbon was washed with 10% (w/w) HCl in order to remove the residual nickel particles. The characterization and degree graphization of biomass changed with temperature. Structural and surface properties of the resulting graphite-based materials were investigated by FTIR, BET surface analyzer and elemental analysis. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) was performed to determine the thermal resistance of the materials. XRD results exhibited that the highest degree of crystallinity of graphitic carbon synthesized with NiNO3 catalysis obtained at 1100 °C degree. Electrical transport properties of particles were characterized using two-terminal current-voltage (I-V) curves and shows very high conductivity for NiGC1100 Nickel catalyzed graphitic carbon. The as-prepared material has many potential applications such as an electrode in supercapacitor and Li-ion battery. This application is currently under testing.