Biomass-based hydrothermal carbons for catalysis and environmental cleanup: a review

• Published in: Green chemistry letters and reviews Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 162 - 186
• Main Authors: John, Kingsley I., Omorogie, Martins O.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis 02.01.2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Biomass; Carbon; Carbonization; Catalysis; Clean energy; Energy storage; environment; Environmental cleanup; Functional groups; Functional materials; Renewable energy; Synthesis; World population
• ISSN: 1751-8253; 1751-7192
• DOI: 10.1080/17518253.2022.2028017

The growing demand for alternative green energy and environmental crises is a significant concern for the world population. Thus, researchers have devoted effort to finding cheap, eco-friendly, and robust functional materials. The bottleneck faced by scientists is the synthesis of a material with high surface area, highly functionalized, and cost-effective. To this end, biomass-based hydrothermal carbons are gaining increasing attention due to the presence of functional groups introduced during hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and mild/tunable preparation conditions. This review Materials the synthesis, parameters that influence the carbonization process, and mechanisms involved during HTC. Other synthesis routes for enhancing the properties of HTC carbon materials are also discussed. The application of HTC carbon materials, including energy storage devices, catalysis, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and adsorption, are reported. Lastly, we present the challenges and possible strategies for improving the HTC process.