This article presents the technology for the preparation of a nitrogen-containing nanoporous bio-carbon and investigates its properties. It has been shown that the synthesised bio-carbon is characterised by a high degree of homogeneity, which has been confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy. The obtained bio-carbon has a micromesoporous structure, which has been confirmed by the results of studies using the method of low-temperature nitrogen adsorption and desorption. It was found that the specific surface area of biochar is 1247 m2/g. The data on nitrogen adsorption and desorption were compared with the data on small-angle X-ray scattering, and it was found that the micropores in the synthesised bio-carbon are open pores, while mesopores remain closed. The energy dispersion analysis showed that the structure of the bio-carbon does not contain ferromagnetic atoms, but due to the addition of nitrogen, the synthesised bio-carbon in a magnetic field has the properties of a ferromagnet with a characteristic hysteresis of the specific magnetisation. It was found that this material has a saturation magnetisation σs of 1.4 A∙m2∙kg−1 and a coercive force Hc of 10 kA/m. Symmetric supercapacitors were fabricated from the synthesised bio-carbon material with 30% aqueous KOH and 1 M Na2SO4 as electrolytes. It was found that for bio-carbon synthesised at 800 °C, the specific capacitance in a 30% aqueous solution of KOH is 180 F/g, and in a 1 M aqueous solution of Na2SO4, it is 124 F/g. The cyclic voltammetry of the fabricated supercapacitors at different rates of potential expansion was investigated and analysed. Impedance studies on these supercapacitors were carried out. The equivalent electrical circuits describing the electrochemical processes in the studied supercapacitors were constructed and characterised.
A two-step method for the synthesis of C/Ni/N nanocomposites based on hydrolysis lignin from wood chemical processing waste is proposed. These nanocomposites were found to have a well-developed porous structure with a wide pore size distribution. It was shown that doping hydrolysis lignin with urea-derived nitrogen leads to the appearance of ferromagnetic behavior in the carbon material. When nickel chloride was added during pyrolysis, the magnetic behavior of the C/Ni/N composite was provided by superparamagnetic Ni particles less than 30 nm in size and the magnetism of the carbon matrix. The addition of urea during the synthesis of the nanocomposite further promotes better integration of nickel into the carbon structure. According to the results of magnetic studies, the nickel content in the C/Ni/N nanocomposite was 19 wt.% compared to 15 wt.% in the C/Ni nanocomposite. The synthesized nanocomposite was demonstrated to have no residual magnetization, so its particles do not agglomerate after the external magnetic field is removed. Due to this property and the well-developed porous structure, C/Ni/N composites have the potential to be used as catalysts, active electrode materials for autonomous energy sources, and in environmental technologies as magnetically sensitive adsorbents.
In this work, Ni/C/N nanocomposites were synthesized from wheat straw and sugar beet pulp by two-stage direct pyrolysis using nickel chloride and urea as activating agents. It was demonstrated that nitrogen doping of the precursor, achieved using urea as the nitrogen source, induces ferromagnetic behavior in the carbon material. Upon additional activation with nickel chloride, the magnetic behavior of the C/Ni/N composites is governed by both Ni nanoparticles with an average size of approximately 100 nm and the magnetism of the nitrogen-doped carbon matrix. Wheat-straw-derived composites exhibited predominantly microporous structures with larger BET surface areas, whereas sugar-beet-pulp-derived samples contained a higher proportion of mesopores. Although the latter possessed lower specific surface areas, they demonstrated superior adsorption capacities toward Congo Red owing to improved accessibility of adsorption sites for large dye molecules. The adsorption process was best described by the Langmuir model, while the Dubinin–Radushkevich model suggested strong specific physicochemical interactions between dye molecules and the adsorbent surface. The results demonstrate that the adsorption efficiency of biomass-derived Ni/C/N nanocomposites is governed not only by the total surface area but also by pore architecture and surface chemistry.
The article presents a technology for producing nitrogen-containing nanoporous biocarbon with high degree of elemental composition homogeneity, confirmed by electron spectroscopy. The research explores the relationship among the electronic characteristics of supramolecular nanoporous carbon, its porous structure, and the capacitance at its interface with the electrolyte. The obtained biocarbon is characterized by micro and mesopores, as evidenced by the results of studies by the method of nitrogen adsorption/desorption. The specific area of the available porous surface was found to be 1247 m2/g. Comparing this result with the data of small-angle X-ray scattering, we conclude that micropores are open while mesopores remain closed. This material was found to have a saturation magnetization σs of 1.4 A∙m2∙kg-1 and a coercive force Hc of 10 kA/m. The impedance studies of electrochemical cells of supercapacitors made of the experimental biocarbon were carried out. Equivalent electrical circuits of the studied electrochemical processes were constructed and characterized.