Luis E Arteaga-Perez
University of Concepcion, Chile
Title: Cellulose-derived carbon aerogel as catalyst support Part I: Improving carbon yield and further resistance to oxidant atmosphere
Biography
Biography: Luis E Arteaga-Perez
Abstract
During the last decade, the interest for developing carbon-based structures have been renewed. Among several candidates, carbon aerogels (CAGs) have demonstrated potential for several applications such as catalyst supports, adsorbents, electrodes and supercapacitors for secondary batteries. This research focuses on the production of wisely designed carbon structures for its use as catalyst support for the elimination of tars and ammonia form biomass-derived syngas. The main drawbacks in preparing CAGs from cellulose are related to the low mass yields obtained (<15%) during carbonization and to the unstability of the carbon when it is used for applications involving high-temperature oxidant atmospheres. Here, we report on the mechanisms and thermal behavior of treated cellulose nanofi bers that were pre-treated with a fl ame retardant ((NH4)2SO4). Th e CAGs precursor are freeze-dried nanocellulose fi bers provided by the University of Maine. Th e presence of (NH4)2SO4 reduces the production of tars by inhibiting the levoglucosan formation and also it promotes further decomposition of levoglucosan by the carbon-promotor route. The concentration of (NH4)2SO4 affects the activation energy of pyrolysis as well as the fi nal carbon yield, which is mostly associated to crosslinking, scission and cracking of bonds. The compositional, morphological and textural characterization of the CAGs precursor was carried out by Elemental Analysis, TGA-MS, ICP-OES, FT-IR, XRD, SEM and nitrogen adsorption.