Lignin is a highly abundant source of renewable carbon that can be considered as a valuable sustainable source of biobased materials. By applying specific pretreatments and manufacturing methods, ...lignin can be converted into a variety of value‐added carbon materials. However, the physical and chemical heterogeneities of lignin complicate its use as a feedstock. Herein lignin manufacturing process, the effects of pretreatments and manufacturing methods on the properties of product lignin, and structure–property relationships in various applications of lignin‐derived carbon materials, such as carbon fibers, carbon mats, activated carbons, carbon films, and templated carbon, are discussed.
From trees to advanced carbon materials: Lignin is a highly abundant source of renewable carbon that can be considered as a valuable sustainable source of biobased materials. Lignin manufacturing processes, in particular, the effects of pretreatments and manufacturing methods on the properties of product lignin for various applications of lignin‐derived carbon materials are reviewed.
Display omitted
Polymerization of ionic liquids results in the formation of ionic polymers, which are called poly(ionic liquid)s or polymerized ionic liquids (PIL). This is a brand new form of ...ionicity in polymer chains with a broad range of applications, though ionic polymers have a long history with the sub-families of polyelectrolytes and ionomers. Although mobility of ions in ionic liquids has named them as the promising candidates for various applications, their applicability is limited in many practical systems because of not having the advantages of neither liquids nor solids, suffering from both leakage issue and high viscosity. PILs perfectly fit with the practical requirements while having almost all features of ionic liquids. This review summarizes some potential applications of PILs. The architecture of PILs can be easily re-designed by both the polymer backbone and outer ion. Not only by post-polymerization but also by in situ ion-exchange, the chemical and mechanical properties of PILs can be tuned. Owing to the high chemical activity and flexible architecture, PILs are the promising candidates for sensors and actuators, electroactive binders, solid and gel electrolytes, non-blocking matrix of nanocomposites, etc.
Flat electrodes are useful in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) as close electrode spacing improves power generation. Carbon cloth and carbon paper materials typically used in hydrogen fuel cells, however, ...are prohibitively expensive for use in MFCs. An inexpensive carbon mesh material was examined here as a substantially less expensive alternative to these materials for the anode in an MFC. Pretreatment of the carbon mesh was needed to ensure adequate MFC performance. Heating the carbon mesh in a muffle furnace (450 degrees C for 30 min) resulted in a maximum power density of 922 mW/m2 (46 W/m3) with this heat-treated anode, which was 3% more power than that produced using a mesh anode cleaned with acetone (893 mW/ m2; 45 W/m3). This power density with heating was only 7% less than that achieved with carbon cloth treated by a high temperature ammonia gas process (988 mW/m2; 49 W/m3). When the carbon mesh was treated by the ammonia gas process, power increased to 1015 mW/m2(51 W/m3). Analysis of the cleaned or heated surfaces showed these processes decreased atomic O/C ratio, indicating removal of contaminants that interfered with charge transfer. Ammonia gas treatment also increased the atomic N/C ratio, suggesting that this process produced nitrogen related functional groups that facilitated electron transfer. These results show that low cost heat-treated carbon mesh materials can be used as the anode in an MFC, providing good performance and even exceeding performance of carbon cloth anodes.
Abstract
Binder Jet Additive Manufacturing (BJAM) is a versatile AM technique that can form parts from a variety of powdered materials including metals, ceramics, and polymers. BJAM utilizes inkjet ...printing to selectively bind these powder particles together to form complex geometries. Adoption of BJAM has been limited due to its inability to form strong green parts using conventional binders. We report the discovery of a versatile polyethyleneimine (PEI) binder for silica sand that doubled the flexural strength of parts to 6.28 MPa compared with that of the conventional binder, making it stronger than unreinforced concrete (~4.5 MPa) in flexural loading. Furthermore, we demonstrate that PEI in the printed parts can be reacted with ethyl cyanoacrylate through a secondary infiltration, resulting in an increase in flexural strength to 52.7 MPa. The strong printed parts coupled with the ability for sacrificial washout presents potential to revolutionize AM in various applications including construction and tooling.
The recovery of uranium (U) from seawater has been investigated for over six decades in efforts to secure uranium sources for future energy production. The majority of the research activities have ...focused on inorganic materials, chelating polymers, and nanomaterials. Previous studies of uranium adsorption from aqueous solutions, mainly seawater, are reviewed here with a focus on various adsorbent materials, adsorption parameters, adsorption characterization, and marine studies. Continuous progress has been made over several decades, with adsorbent loadings approaching 3.2 mg U/g adsorbent in equilibrium with seawater. Further research is needed to improve first, the viability including improved capacity, selectivity, and kinetics, and second, the sorbent regeneration for multicycle use. An overview of the status of the uranium adsorption technology is provided and future research needs to make this technology commercially competitive are discussed.