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. 2023 Feb 4;16(4):1336.
doi: 10.3390/ma16041336.

Synthesis of Micro- and Mesoporous Carbon Foams with Nanodispersed Metals for Adsorption and Catalysis Applications

Roberto García  1 , Elena Rodríguez  1 , María A Díez  1 , Ana Arenillas  1 , Sara F Villanueva  1 , Natalia Rey-Raap  1 , Cristóbal Cuesta  1 , María A López-Antón  1 , M Rosa Martínez-Tarazona  1
Affiliations

Synthesis of Micro- and Mesoporous Carbon Foams with Nanodispersed Metals for Adsorption and Catalysis Applications

Roberto García et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

This work focuses on carbon foams, whose peculiarity is a predominant open macroporous cellular network that can be provided with tailored texture and morphology by the modification of the preparation process. The goal was to obtain macroporous carbonaceous structures capable of being activated by following a simple thermo-foaming procedure using a few reagents. With this purpose in mind, carbon foams with different textural properties were synthesized from sucrose using two foaming processes: at atmospheric pressure and in a pressurized reactor. Iron and silver nitrates added to sucrose gave rise, after carbonization, to materials with iron oxides and elemental silver particles nano-dispersed in the carbon matrix and promoted microporosity in both cases and mesoporosity in the case of iron nitrate. Iron nitrate also catalyzes the graphitization of the carbon material during carbonization. All these findings show the potential of sucrose thermo-foaming process as a viable and sustainable path to produce versatile carbon materials, capable of being used in various applications.

Keywords: carbon foams; metal nitrates; sucrose.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Weight loss (CY) and heat flow curves of sucrose and sucrose with citric acid in air atmosphere.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Weight loss (CY) and heat flow curves of sucrose with Fe(NO₃)₃·9 H₂O (Fe)and AgNO3(Ag) in air atmosphere.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Weight loss curves of sucrose without and with additives in a dynamic step from 30 to 250 °C followed by an isothermal step of 60 min in a controlled air environment.
Figure 4
Figure 4
DTG curves of SF green foams in N2 atmosphere from ambient up to 1000 °C.
Figure 5
Figure 5
SEM micrographies of rSF1 (a), rSF2 (b), SF (c) SF(C) (d), SF(Fe) (e), and SF(Ag) (f).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Size and distribution of metal particles in foams SF(Ag) (a,c,e1,e2) and SF(Fe) (b,d,f1,f2).
Figure 7
Figure 7
XRD patterns of the carbon foams SF, rSF2 and SF(C). Ct: turbostratic structure.
Figure 8
Figure 8
XRD patterns of the carbon foams SF(Fe) and SF(Ag) compared with SF. Cg: graphitic structure; Ct: turbostratic graphite structure; Mg/Mh: magnetite/maghemite; Fe: elemental iron. Inset plot: magnification of the lowest part of SF(Ag) XRD pattern.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Pore size distribution of: (a) carbon foams rSF1 and rSF2 obtained by pressurized foaming; (b) carbon foams SF, SF(0.01C) and SF(0.06C) obtained by foaming under atmospheric pressure, and (c) carbon foams SF, SF(Fe) and SF(Ag) obtained by foaming under atmospheric pressure.
Figure 10
Figure 10
N2 adsorption isotherms of SF(Fe). Inset plot: pore size distribution of SF(Fe).
Figure 11
Figure 11
N2 adsorption isotherms of SF(Ag). Inset plot: pore size distribution of SF(Ag).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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