Understanding Synthesis–Structure–Performance Correlations of Nanoarchitectured Activated Carbons for Electrochemical Applications and Carbon Capture

Abstract

Activated carbons are one of the most important classes of high‐surface‐area porous materials. Owing to their unique structure, low price, and large‐scale production technology, these porous carbons have been traditionally used as sorbents for eliminating contamination. In the past decade, many innovations have been seen in the synthesis, structure, applications, and theoretical and experimental methods. Herein, a comprehensive review of the up‐to‐date progress of activated carbons is presented from the viewpoint of synthetic chemistry and materials science. First, the critical textural properties are discussed, with special emphasis on the porous texture, heteroatom doping, surface functional groups, and partial graphitization. Next, the advanced synthetic strategies of activated carbons are summarized. Special attention is given to the reaction mechanism between activating agents and carbon sources, as well as the design of controlled forms and morphology. Then, their applicability in various emerging fields is covered, including supercapacitors, capacitive deionization, batteries, electrocatalysis, and carbon capture. In particular, this review highlights the potential synthesis–structure–property correlations of these porous materials. Finally, we present the future challenges and outlook for their success in energy and environmental science.

Electrocapacitive Deionization: Mechanisms, Electrodes, and Cell Designs

“…Carbonbased materials have been widely employed as CDI electrodes because of their unique properties, such as high specific surface area (SSA), good electrical conductivity, and excellent stability in water. [32,33,35,161] Activated carbon (AC), carbon nanotubes (CNT), graphene, and metal-organic framework-derived carbons (MOF-derived carbons) are the common carbon electrode materials for CDI. In addition, Faradaic electrode materials have generated increasing interest in the CDI application, providing alternative opportunities for CDI.…”

“…[33,65] AC can be derived from various resources such as biomass, resin, and coal. [161] Commercial AC shows uncompetitive CDI performance with limited SAC (in general <10 mg g −1 ) and SAR (in general <1 mg g −1 min −1 ) because of the undesirable porous structures. [33] Modifying the pore structure of AC can improve its CDI performance.…”

Tailoring B, N-Enriched Carbon Nanosheets via a Gelation-Assisted Strategy for High-Capacity and Fast-Response Capacitive Desalination

“…Although 75% of the earth’s area is covered by water, 97.5% of it is salt water and 89.6% of the remaining fresh water resources cannot be directly utilized by human beings, , which indicates the urgency of exploring efficient salt water desalination strategies to solve the water resource crisis. Capacitive deionization (CDI), a rising, low-cost, high-efficiency, and renewable water purification method, , can effectively adsorb the Na + from brackish water, thus showing potential application prospect for desalination. , Generally, carbonaceous materials are the ideal electrodes for CDI due to their customizable structures and tunable surface properties, the commercial devices employing activated carbon as electrodes for CDI have emerged so far. – However, the poor capacity and sluggish response rate still require further exploration for advanced carbonaceous electrodes.…”

Optimized Sieving Effect for Ethanol/Water Separation by Ultramicroporous MOFs

“…As is well known, adsorptive separation depends mainly upon the efficiency of adsorbents. A variety of porous physisorbents, such as zeolites, [7] silicas [8] and porous carbon material, [9] are found to be good candidates. However, the high activation temperature contradicts the application requirements.…”