The bakery of high-end sorption carbons: sugar–urea doughs as processable precursors for functional carbons

Abstract

Via utilizing a phenomenon that is usually observed in the food industry, a scalable, safe, and cheap synthesis method for processable and functional porous carbons has been presented. Using simple sugars in combination with urea, low melting liquids can be formed that are also stable at room temperature without recrystallization. Due to low vapor pressure, these melts can be easily stored and handled for further use as carbon precursors. The resulting carbon materials possess high nitrogen content and are obtained in high yield. The liquid precursor state also allows the addition of further substances, and highly porous carbon monoliths can be formed by the introduction of a salt/fiber mixture. Herein, cellulose was found to serve as an efficient additive, which resulted in processable viscoelastic doughs without the alteration of the final carbon properties. This method is of special importance with regard to industrial processes as compared to standard carbonization, and it becomes possible to handle intermediates in a green body fashion. Eventually, compared to pre-baked bread rolls, storable intermediates can be processed which inherently contain already all the final carbon properties. The carbon cookies were stable against oxidation and were shown to be highly suitable as a sorption material, which was demonstrated via dye-removal from an aqueous solution.