Hierarchical
porous carbon shows great potential for volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) removal due to its high surface area and abundant
porous framework. However, current fabrication protocols are complex
and cause secondary pollution, limiting their application. Here, as
a novel strategy, microbial lignocellulose decomposition as a pretreatment
was introduced to fabricate hierarchical porous carbon (M-AC) from
crude biomass substrate. The M-AC samples had high specific surface
areas (maximum: 2290 m2·g–1) and
surfaces characterized by needle-like protrusions with a high degree
of disorder attributed to hierarchical porous structures. Dynamic
toluene adsorption indicated that the carbon materials with microbial
pretreatment had much better adsorption performances (maximum: 446
mg/g) than activated carbon without pretreatment. The M-AC material
pretreated with a cellulose-degrading microbe showed the best adsorption
capacity due to well-developed micropores, whereas the M-AC material
pretreated with a lignin-degrading microbe showed excellent transport
diffusion due to well-developed mesopores. Therefore, this simple
and effective approach using microbial decomposition pretreatment
is promising for the development of hierarchical porous carbons with
adjustable pore structures and high specific surface areas to remove
target VOCs in practical applications.
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