A Hollow Spherical Carbon Derived from the Spray Drying of Corncob Lignin for High‐Rate‐Performance Supercapacitors

• Published in: Chemistry, an Asian journal Vol. 12; no. 5; pp. 503 - 506
• Main Authors: Pan, Zheng‐Ze, Dong, Liubing, Lv, Wei, Zheng, Dequn, Li, Zhengjie, Luo, Chong, Zheng, Cheng, Yang, Quan‐Hong, Kang, Feiyu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 02-03-2017
• Subjects: Biomass; Carbon; Carbon - chemistry; Chemistry; Hot Temperature; Lignin; Lignin - chemistry; Particle Size; Porosity; rate performance; spray drying; supercapacitors; Surface Properties; rate performance; biomass; spray drying; supercapacitors; carbon
• ISSN: 1861-4728; 1861-471X
• DOI: 10.1002/asia.201601724

Controlling the microstructure of biomass‐derived carbon is of essential importance for directing its use. Herein, a hollow spherical carbon (HSC) was prepared from corncob lignin through spray drying and subsequent heat treatment. The HSC, which is characterized by its hierarchically porous structure, delivers high rate capability when it is directly used as electrode material for supercapacitors. This strategy that uses lignin as the precursor avoids the intrinsic difficulty in tuning the microstructure of the biomass‐derived carbons and is suitable for mass production for practical use.
Yummy! Corn on the cob! A hollow spherical carbon was prepared from corncob lignin through spray drying followed by carbonization. It shows a high rate performance as an electrode for supercapacitors owing to its hierarchical porous structure obtained after spray drying. This study describes a facile strategy for the microstructure control of biomass‐derived carbons.