Facile synthesis of mesoporous carbon material from treated kitchen waste for energy applications

Materials for Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Mar 2018

Biomass is abundant, easily available, and environmentally benign source of C which can be converted to scientifically useful materials by appropriate processing. This work is our attempt to convert the treated kitchen waste and chicken manure into valuable mesoporous carbons, and to check its suitability for energy applications. The samples have been prepared using high-temperature carbonization method, and the results are investigated for physical, chemical, and preliminary electrochemical studies. The synthesized porous carbons have mesoporous size distributions (10.29 nm) along with high-doped N content (9.2 at. %). An increase in the disordered porous structure and, hence, the number of active sites have been observed under field-emission scanning electron microscopy. In the electrochemical studies, a positive shift of − 0.104 V has been observed in the oxygen reduction onset potential of the kitchen waste and chicken manure-based mesoporous carbons as compared to the control sample. Interestingly, the electrocatalytic performance is even comparable to the commercial Pt/C-based electrocatalyst. These studies indicate the suitability of the designed electrocatalyst for clean energy devices. Our approach is also an effective way to dispose-off the kitchen waste by modifying it using poultry faeces, which is a remedy to manage large-scale organic waste.

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Facile synthesis of mesoporous carbon material from treated kitchen waste for energy applications

Materials for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Facile synthesis of mesoporous carbon material from treated kitchen waste for energy applications Prabhsharan Kaur 0 1 2 Subhashini Singh 0 1 2 Gaurav Verma 0 1 2 0 Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, UIEAST, Panjab University , Chandigarh 160014 , India 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology (SLIET) , Longowal, Sangrur, Punjab 148106 , India 2 Dr Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar University Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology (Formerly Department of Chemical Engineering & Technology), Panjab University , Sector 14, Chandigarh 160014 , India 3 Gaurav Verma Biomass is abundant, easily available, and environmentally benign source of C which can be converted to scientifically useful materials by appropriate processing. This work is our attempt to convert the treated kitchen waste and chicken manure into valuable mesoporous carbons, and to check its suitability for energy applications. The samples have been prepared using hightemperature carbonization method, and the results are investigated for physical, chemical, and preliminary electrochemical studies. The synthesized porous carbons have mesoporous size distributions (10.29 nm) along with high-doped N content (9.2 at. %). An increase in the disordered porous structure and, hence, the number of active sites have been observed under field-emission scanning electron microscopy. In the electrochemical studies, a positive shift of −0.104 V has been observed in the oxygen reduction onset potential of the kitchen waste and chicken manure-based mesoporous carbons as compared to the control sample. Interestingly, the electrocatalytic performance is even comparable to the commercial Pt/C-based electrocatalyst. These studies indicate the suitability of the designed electrocatalyst for clean energy devices. Our approach is also an effective way to dispose-off the kitchen waste by modifying it using poultry faeces, which is a remedy to manage large-scale organic waste. Biomass; Mesoporous carbons; Kitchen waste; Sustainability; N-doping; Poultry faeces Introduction A continual use of fossil fuel reserves is leading us towards an alarming situation, where we have to devise some alternative means of energy generation. Hence, there are persistent efforts to replace present-day fuel resources with more economic, environment-friendly, and advanced alternative fuels [ 1 ]. A rapid industrial growth and increasing world population are adding on to this pressure with each passing day. In this scenario, most viable and practical approach is to look back at technologies which were in use before the advent of using non-renewable sources. Biomass is in use for various means of energy generation since the beginning of mankind. The materials such as firewood, crop residues, manure, or charcoal used in a traditional way have been the main energy source for most of the human history and still play relevant roles. It is the biological matter which includes all living matter on the earth. Biomass-based materials are indeed advantageous for the three most important reasons: it is renewable source, hence an everlasting solution for the developments in the future as compared to conventional fossil fuels; it is an environment-friendly source of energy as it releases CO2 and sulphur contents in fewer amounts; and it is more economic and financially viable as compared to the costlier fossil fuels [ 2 ]. Biomass accounts for ~ 10% of the world energy consumption [ 3 ]. It mainly consists of cellulose (C6H10O5)x, hemicelluloses (C5H8O4)m, lignin [C9H10O3(COH3)0.9–1.7]n, proteins, fats, sugars, water, ash content, etc. Cellulose is the main constituent of biomass; it is 35–50% of biomass by weight. Lignin is 15–20% and hemicelluloses are about 20–35% of biomass weight, while the remaining 15–20% is fats, proteins, ash content, and small extractives [ 4 ]. In general, biomass is classified into six sub-groups: wood and woody biomass, aquatic biomass, contaminated and industrial biomass waste, herbaceous and agricultural biomass, animal and human biomass waste, and biomass mixtures from all these varieties [ 5 ]. The individual characteristics of each category of biomass depend upon their physical properties, ultimate analysis, and proximate analysis. The properties change in every natural material with time, age, and growth environment [ 6 ]. Besides using biomass-based materials as alternative fuels to the conventional fuels, significant efforts are going on to utilize biomass and waste materials for several energybased applications [ 7–9 ]. One major concern is the commercialization of clean energy devices such as Fuel cell (FC). A major hurdle in FC operation is the slow kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) occurring at the cathode. An electrocatalyst is required to speed it up, and conventionally, Pt/C is the material of choice for this. However, it is a costli (...truncated)


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Prabhsharan Kaur, Subhashini Singh, Gaurav Verma. Facile synthesis of mesoporous carbon material from treated kitchen waste for energy applications, Materials for Renewable and Sustainable Energy, 2018, pp. 9, Volume 7, Issue 2, DOI: 10.1007/s40243-018-0116-x