Hollow carbon nanospheres are synthesized via the hydrothermal carbonization of glucose in the presence of nanosized latexes templates. The resulting disordered carbon hollow nanospheres exhibits excellent characteristics in terms of reversible capacities, cycling performance, and rate capability for application as an anode material in Na‐based batteries.

Increasing the stream of recycled plastic necessitates an approach beyond the traditional recycling via melting and re‐extrusion. Various chemical recycling processes have great potential to enhance recycling rates. In this Review, a summary of the various chemical recycling routes and assessment via life‐cycle analysis is complemented by an extensive list of processes developed by companies active in chemical recycling. We show that each of the currently available processes is applicable for specific plastic waste streams. Thus, only a combination of different technologies can address the plastic waste problem. Research should focus on more realistic, more contaminated and mixed waste streams, while collection and sorting infrastructure will need to be improved, that is, by stricter regulation. This Review aims to inspire both science and innovation for the production of higher value and quality products from plastic recycling suitable for reuse or valorization to create the necessary economic and environmental push for a circular economy.

Nanoparticles are regarded as a major step forward to achieving the miniaturisation and nanoscaling effects and properties that have been utilised by nature for millions of years. The chemist is no longer observing and describing the behaviour of matter but is now able to manipulate and produce new types of materials with specific desired physicochemical characteristics. Such materials are receiving extensive attention across a broad range of research disciplines. The fusion between nanoparticle and nanoporous materials technology represents one of the most interesting of these rapidly expanding areas. The harnessing of nanoscale activity and selectivity, potentially provides extremely efficient catalytic materials for the production of commodity chemicals, and energy needed for a future sustainable society. In this tutorial review, we present an introduction to the field of supported metal nanoparticles (SMNPs) on porous materials, focusing on their preparation and applications in different areas.

Carbon-based structures are the most versatile materials used in the modern field of renewable energy (i.e., in both generation and storage) and environmental science (e.g., purification/remediation). However, there is a need and indeed a desire to develop increasingly more sustainable variants of classical carbon materials (e.g., activated carbons, carbon nanotubes, carbon aerogels, etc.), particularly when the whole life cycle is considered (i.e., from precursor "cradle" to "green" manufacturing and the product end-of-life "grave"). In this regard, and perhaps mimicking in some respects the natural carbon cycles/production, utilization of natural, abundant and more renewable precursors, coupled with simpler, lower energy synthetic processes which can contribute in part to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or the use of toxic elements, can be considered as crucial parameters in the development of sustainable materials manufacturing. Therefore, the synthesis and application of sustainable carbon materials are receiving increasing levels of interest, particularly as application benefits in the context of future energy/chemical industry are becoming recognized. This review will introduce to the reader the most recent and important progress regarding the production of sustainable carbon materials, whilst also highlighting their application in important environmental and energy related fields.

This perspective review paper provides an overview on recently developed carbon material technology synthesised from the hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) approach, with a particular focus on the carbon formation mechanism, perspectives on large scale production, nanostructuring, functionalisation and applications. Perceptions on how this technology will be developed especially with regard to application fields where the use of HTC-derived materials could be extended will also be introduced and discussed.

A one-pot, hydrothermal synthesis of nitrogen and sulfur dual doped carbon aerogels is presented, derived from our previously published hydrothermal carbonization approach. Two co-monomers, S-(2-thienyl)-L-cysteine (TC) and 2-thienyl carboxaldehyde (TCA), were used for sulfur incorporation, giving rise to distinct morphologies and varying doping levels of sulfur. Nitrogen-doping levels of 5 wt% and sulfur-doping levels of 1 wt% (using TCA) to 4 wt% (using TC) were obtained. A secondary pyrolysis step was used to further tune the carbon aerogel conductivity and heteroatom binding states. By comparing solely nitrogen-doped with nitrogen- and sulfur-doped carbon aerogels, it was observed that the presence of sulfur improves the overall electrocatalytic activity of the carbon material in both basic and acidic media. This study of the synergistic effect of combined sulfur- and nitrogen-doping in the catalysis of the “oxygen reduction reaction” (ORR) is expected to be significant to future research concerning the improvement of heterogeneous, metal-free, carbon-based catalysts

Porous carbon materials are ubiquitous with a wide range of technologically important applications, including separation science, heterogeneous catalyst supports, water purification filters, stationary phase materials, as well as the developing future areas of energy generation and storage applications. Hard template routes to ordered mesoporous carbons are well established, but whilst offering different mesoscopic textural phases, the surface of the material is difficult to chemically post-modify and processing is energy, resource and step intensive. The production of carbon materials from biomass (i.e. sugars or polysaccharides) is a relatively new but rapidly expanding research area. In this tutorial review, we compare and contrast recently reported routes to the preparation of porous carbon materials derived from renewable resources, with examples of our previously reported mesoporous polysaccharide-derived "Starbon" carbonaceous material technology.

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is an aqueous-phase route to produce carbon materials using biomass or biomass-derived precursors. In this paper, a comprehensive physicochemical and textural characterization of HTC materials obtained using four different precursors, namely, xylose, glucose, sucrose, and starch, is presented. The development of porosity in the prepared HTC materials as a function of thermal treatment (under an inert atmosphere) was specifically monitored using N(2) and CO(2) sorption analysis. The events taking place during the thermal treatment process were studied by a combined thermogravimetric/infrared (TGA-IR) measurement. Interestingly, these inexpensive biomass-derived carbon materials show good selectivity for CO(2) adsorption over N(2) (CO(2)/N(2) selectivity of 20 at 273 K, 1 bar and 1:1 gas composition). Furthermore, the elemental composition, morphologies, degree of structural order, surface charge, and functional groups are also investigated.