Considering its availability, renewable character and abundance in nature, this review assesses the opportunity of the application of biomass as a precursor for the production of carbon-based nanostructured materials (CNMs). CNMs are exceptionally shaped nanomaterials that possess distinctive properties, with far-reaching applicability in a number of areas, including the fabrication of sustainable and efficient energy harnessing, conversion and storage devices. This review describes CNM synthesis, properties and modification, focusing on reports using biomass as starting material. Since biomass comprises 60–90% cellulose, the current review takes into account the properties of cellulose. Noting that highly crystalline cellulose poses a difficulty in dissolution, ionic liquids (ILs) are proposed as the solvent system to dissolve the cellulose-containing biomass in generating precursors for the synthesis of CNMs. Preliminary results with cellulose and sugarcane bagasse indicate that ILs can not only be used to make the biomass available in a liquefied form as required for the floating catalyst CVD technique but also to control the heteroatom content and composition in situ for the heteroatom doping of the materials.

Metal nanoparticle (MNP) catalysts used for the synthesis of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) consisted of single metals (Fe, Ni or Co) and bimetallic mixture (CoFe, NiFe or NiCo). MWCNTs were successfully synthesised at 200 C in 10 min using liquefied petroleum gas as carbon source with non-equilibrium plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) method. The nanostructures and the morphology of the MNPs and the MWCNTs film were characterised using relevant microscopic and spectroscopic methods. The synthesised MWCNTs were used as part of the electrode material in organic solar cell (OSC) set-up. Poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT: PSS) was used as an electron transporter and poly-3-hexyl thiophene (P3HT) as an electron donor. The performance of OSC devices was tested using standard electrical measurements and solar simulator operating at 100 mW/cm 2 . The measured power conversion efficiencies was found to be dependent on the metal catalyst used during synthesis. Among all the catalysts employed in this investigation, the best device performance was found from the synthesis of MWCNTs using Fe as a catalyst followed by Co and then Ni, respectively.

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The ongoing research toward meeting global energy demands requires novel materials from abundant renewable resources. This work involves an investigation on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs) synthesized from relatively low-cost and readily available biomass as carbon precursors and their use as electrodes for supercapacitors. The influence of the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, or its combination with either sugarcane bagasse or cellulose (IL-CNTs, ILBag-CNTs, and ILCel-CNTs, respectively), in the synthesis of N-CNTs and the resultant effect on their physical and electrochemical properties was studied. Systematic characterizations of the N-CNTs employing transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), elemental analysis, nitrogen sorption analysis, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were performed. TEM data analysis showed that the mean outer diameters decreased, in the order of IL-CNTs > ILBag-CNTs > ILCel-CNTs. The N-CNTs possess only pyridinic and pyrrolic nitrogen-doping moieties. The pyridinic nitrogen-doping content is lowest in IL-CNTs and highest in ILCel-CNTs. The N-CNTs are mesoporous with surface areas in the range of 21–52 m2 g−1. The ILCel-CNTs had the highest specific capacitance of 30 F g−1, while IL-CNTs has the least, 10 F g−1. The source of biomass is beneficial for tuning physicochemical properties such as the size and surface areas of N-CNTs, the pyridinic nitrogen-doping content, and ultimately capacitance, leading to materials with excellent properties for electrochemical applications.

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