Carboxylate-Rich Carbonaceous Materials via One-Step Hydrothermal Carbonization of Glucose in the Presence of Acrylic Acid

Abstract

The present study concerns the one-step aqueous route production of carbonaceous materials loaded with carboxylic groups using hydrothermal carbonization of glucose in the presence of acrylic acid. This method provides a “green” solvent and surfactant free access to hydrophilic functionalized carbons with very good water dispersivity. The resulting materials were characterized using various methods including, FT-IR, Zeta Potential, N2 adsorption, Raman Spectroscopy, SEM, TGA, and 13C solid-state NMR. Among other possible applications of these types of materials, here, we discuss their use as adsorbents for heavy metals removal from aqueous solutions

Chemical, structural and energy properties of hydrochars from microwave-assisted hydrothermal carbonization of glucose

“…S1 (Supplementary information) provided information about its chemical composition, and also confirmed the results from the FT-IR. The peaks between 14 and 60 ppm are due to the presence of aliphatic carbons [8,35], while those between 100 and 160 ppm usually referred to as the aromatic region are all due to C=C bond, but between 140 and 160 ppm are specifically due to the oxygen bound O-C=C (O-aryl) [35]. The peaks between 170 and 200 ppm are due to the presence of carboxylic acid, aldehydes or ketones moieties [36].…”

“…Due to its simple operation, mild reaction conditions, and ability to exploit renewable biomass with minimal pre-treatment, it is of a particular environmental advantage when compared to other techniques of carbonization [5][6][7]. Among potential precursors used in the preparation of carbonaceous materials, glucose is very promising and its hydrothermal carbonization process has been studied several times using the conventional method of oven heating [6,[8][9][10]. However, the conventional hydrothermal process requires special systems that support pressure and temperature, usually an autoclave with pressure safety device is used.…”

Recovery of Value-Added Products from Hydrothermal Carbonization of Sewage Sludge

“…Consequently, hydrochars are regarded as valuable materials for various industrial, environmental, and agricultural applications. Proposed uses of hydrochar include an adsorbent, a carbon based smart material, an energy source, and a soil amendment agent [2][3][4][5][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Typically, in comparison with pyrolysis chars, hydrochars have lower carbon content, less aromatic structure, and are less biologically stable [18], but the HTC process allows for higher carbon yield and overall energy efficiency when wet 2 ISRN Chemical Engineering biomass is used.…”

A Review of Hydrothermal Carbonization of Carbohydrates for Carbon Spheres Preparation

“…Carbon spheres synthesized directly from carbohydrates at low temperatures possessed very low surface areas (<10 m 2 /g) with a small volume of micropores, which was common for hydrothermal carbons [38]. Highly disordered carbon spheres from glucose were hydrophilic amorphous carbons [8,31], which had a polymer-like structure consisting of polyfuranic chains [33].…”