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Cellulose-derived carbon spheres produced under supercritical ethanol conditions

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Abstract

This study investigates the production of spherical carbons from cellulose under sub- and supercritical ethanol conditions with and without the addition of a potassium hydroxide (KOH) catalyst. Different temperatures (200 and 280 °C), residence times (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 h), and KOH concentrations (5, 10, and 20 wt% of cellulose) were used for the carbonization process. Carbon spheres could only be obtained under supercritical ethanol conditions (at 280 °C and 9.5 MPa). Supercritical ethanol decreases the oxygen content by a significant amount, thereby increasing the heating value. Morphological studies show that the carbons are essentially spherical of different sizes depending on the operating conditions (such as the presence of a catalyst and time). For the first time, we showed that spherical carbons can be obtained under supercritical ethanol conditions. This is a useful result as, for instance, ethanol can be produced from cellulose, and this opens the possibility for the development of a green and simple procedure to synthesize carbon spheres that may have many different applications including gas separation, catalysis, and energy storage.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Prof. Magdalena Titirici for her valuable suggestions. We thank Dr. K. Vasanth Kumar for the discussions during the revision of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational Health and Safety, Karabük University, 78050, Karabük, Turkey

    Kubilay Tekin

  2. School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Filoklis D. Pileidis

  3. Department of Environmental Engineering, Karabük University, 78050, Karabük, Turkey

    Mehmet K. Akalin

  4. Department of Polymer Engineering, Karabük University, 78050, Karabük, Turkey

    Selhan Karagöz

Authors
  1. Kubilay Tekin
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  2. Filoklis D. Pileidis
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  3. Mehmet K. Akalin
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  4. Selhan Karagöz
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Correspondence to Selhan Karagöz.

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Tekin, K., Pileidis, F.D., Akalin, M.K. et al. Cellulose-derived carbon spheres produced under supercritical ethanol conditions. Clean Techn Environ Policy 18, 331–338 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-015-1014-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-015-1014-x

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