Synthesis of nanoporous material from lignin via carbonization assisted acid activation

Abstract

Waste lignin (WL) from the pulp mill and paper was studied for its potential application to prepare the nanoporous carbon with high porosity via carbonization assisted acid activation. The effect of acid activation such as HNO3, HCl, H2SO4, and H3PO4 on lignin transformation to nanoporous carbon investigated. The physicochemical properties of nanoporous carbon were comprehensively characterized through N2 sorption, Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), respectively. N2 sorption revealed that the condition using 5% vol of phosphoric acid activation at carbonization temperature of 700°C for 2 h exhibited the highly porous structure of carbon nanoparticles with a total pore volume of 0.035 cm3 /g. With the properly selecting process variables of waste lignin development could be producing high porosity nanoporous carbon.