A thermochemical conversion method known as hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is appealing, because it may convert wet biomass directly into energy and chemicals without the need for pre-drying. The hydrochar solid product’s capacity to prepare precursors of activated carbon has attracted attention. HTC has been utilized to solve practical issues and produce desired carbonaceous products on a variety of generated wastes, including municipal solid waste, algae, and sludge in addition to the typically lignocellulose biomass used as sustainable feedstock. This study aims to assess the in-depth description of hydrothermal carbonization, highlighting the most recent findings with regard to the technological mechanisms and practical advantages. The process parameters, which include temperature, water content, pH, and retention time, determine the characteristics of the final products. The right setting of parameters is crucial, since it significantly affects the characteristics of hydrothermal products and opens up a range of opportunities for their use in multiple sectors. Findings reveal that the type of precursor, retention time, and temperature at which the reaction is processed were discovered to be the main determinants of the HTC process. Lower solid products are produced at higher temperatures; the carbon concentration rises, while the hydrogen and oxygen content declines. Current knowledge gaps, fresh views, and associated recommendations were offered to fully use the HTC technique's enormous potential and to provide hydrochar with additional useful applications in the future.

Research is currently being conducted in the field of carbon reduction–related construction technologies, focusing on using industrial waste as a replacement for cement or as aggregates. However, the existing research is limited as carbon reduction is only achieved by reducing the amount of cement used. With the imperative of carbon neutrality, the development of carbon reduction technology is also necessary in the construction field. To address this, we plan to develop carbon reduction technology by introducing biochar—a carbon-sequestration material—into construction practices. Therefore, this study aims to comprehend the effect of the carbonization degree of biochar on the hydration reaction of cement, emphasizing the development of carbon-sequestration construction technology. Therefore, physical and chemical properties, such as surface and crystal structures, were analyzed to determine the effect of varying carbonization degrees on cement composites, contributing valuable insights into the broader field of sustainable construction.

The process of carbonization followed by a high-temperature halogenation removal of radionuclides is a promising approach to convert low-radioactivity spent ion-exchange (IE) resins into freereleasable non-radioactive waste. The first step of this process is to convert spent ion-exchange resins into the carbon granules that are stable under high-temperature and corrosive-gas flowing conditions. This study investigated the kinetics of carbonization of cation exchange resin (CER) and the changes in structures during the course of carbonization to 1,273 K. Both of model-free and modelfitted kinetic analysis of mixed reactions occurring during the course of carbonization were first conducted based on the non-isothermal TGAs and TGA-FTIR analysis of CER to 1,272 K. The structural changes during the course of carbonization were investigated using the high-resolution FTIR and C-13 NMR of CER samples pyrolyzed to the peak temperature of each reaction steps established by the kinetic analysis. Four individual reaction steps were identified during the course of carbonization to 1,273 K. The first and the third steps were identified as the dehydration and the dissociation of the functional group of —SO3-H+ into SO2 and H2O, respectively. The second and the fourth steps were identified as the cleavage of styrene divinyl benzene copolymer and carbonization of pyrolysis product after the cleavage, respectively. The temperature and time positions of the peaks in the DTG plot are nearly identical to those of the peaks of the Gram Schmidt intensity of FTIR. The structural changes in carbonization identified by high-resolution FTIR and DTG are in agreement with those by C-13 NMR. The results of a detailed examination of the structural changes according to NMR and FTIR were in agreement with the pyrolysis gas evolution characteristics as examined by TGA-FTIR.

In this study, numerical modeling on the gas flow and off-gases in the low temperature carbonization furnace for carbon fiber was analyzed. The furnace was designed for testing carbonization process of carbon fibers made from various precursors. Nitrogen gas was used as a working gas and it was treated as an incompressible ideal gas. Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics for steady state turbulent flow was used to analyze flow pattern and temperature field in the furnace. The off-gas mass fraction and cumulative emission gas of species were incorporated into the CFD analyses by using the user defined function(UDF). As a results, during the carbonization process, the emission of CO2 was the dominant among the off-gases, and tow moving made the flow in the furnace be uniform.

Biomass carbon materials with high rate capacity have great potential to boost supercapacitors with cost effective, fast charging– discharging performance and high safety requirements, yet currently suffers from a lack of targeted preparation methods. Here we propose a facile FeCl3 assisted hydrothermal carbonization strategy to prepare ultra-high rate biomass carbon from apple residues (ARs). In the preparation process, ARs were first hydrothermally carbonized into a porous precursor which embedded by Fe species, and then synchronously graphitized and activated to form biocarbon with a large special surface area (2159.3 m2 g− 1) and high degree of graphitization. The material exhibited a considerable specific capacitance of 297.5 F g− 1 at 0.5 A g− 1 and outstanding capacitance retention of 85.7% at 10 A g− 1 in 6 M KOH, and moreover, achieved an energy density of 16.2 Wh kg− 1 with the power density of 350.3 W kg− 1. After 8000 cycles, an initial capacitance of 95.2% was maintained. Our findings provide a new idea for boosting the rate capacity of carbon-based electrode materials.

Coking coal is an important raw material for coke production. In this study, in an inert atmosphere, two Chinese coking coal samples were, respectively, heated gradually to 1200 °C to release volatile and form char and coke in succession, then cooled naturally to close room temperature to age the coke. The whole heating and cooling process on carbonization were monitored in situ by simultaneous small and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS-WAXS) technique based on a synchrotron radiation platform. The simultaneous structural changes of pore and skeleton in coal during carbonization are revealed for the first time. The two raw coal samples, with similar carbon content and slightly different coalification degree, undergone a carbonization process similar in whole and different in parts. The carbonization presents approximately three stages during heating process and one stage during cooling process. The coal structure changes wavily during heating and monotonously during cooling. The corresponding structural change mechanism is analyzed.

The evolvement in the microstructure and electrical properties of PAN-based carbon fibers during high-temperature carbonization were investigated. The study showed that as the heat treatment temperature increases, the change of carbon fiber resistivity around 1100 °C can be divided into two stages. In the first stage, the carbon content of the fiber increased rapidly, and small molecules such as nitrogen were gradually released to form a turbostratic of carbon crystal structure. The resistivity dropped rapidly from 3.19 × 10− 5 Ω·m to 2.12 × 10− 5 Ω·m. In the second stage, the carbon microcrystalline structure gradually became regular, and the electron movement area gradually became larger. At this time, the resistivity further decreases, from 2.12 × 10− 5 Ω·m to 1.59 × 10− 5 Ω·m. During carbonization, the tensile strength of carbon fiber first increased and then decreased. This is because the irregular and disordered graphite structure is formed first. As the temperature rose, the graphite layer spacing decreased and the grain thickness gradually increases. The modulus also gradually increased.

Carbon fibers are commonly used in many specialized, high-performance applications such as race cars and aircraft due to their lightweight and high durability. The most important stage in the production of carbon fibers is the carbonization process. During this process, carbon fibers are subjected to high temperatures in the absence of oxygen to prevent fibers from burning. Labyrinth seals are attached to a carbonization furnace to prevent airflow into the furnace and to assist in the elimination of off-gases. This study investigated flow characteristics inside a carbonization furnace and the effects of different geometric parameters of labyrinth seals such as labyrinth tooth shape, number of teeth, and tooth clearance. Varying carbonization furnace operating conditions were also studied in regard to flow behavior, including fiber movement and outlet vacuum pressure. A high working gas flow rate at the furnace inlet resulted in recirculation zones. Properly regulated gas flow from the main and labyrinth inlets enabled uniform flow around the fibers’ inlet and outlet which prevented air from being trapped in the reactor. Flow behavior was minimally effected by changes to labyrinth seal geometry such as tooth length, tooth clearance, and outlet pressure. However, the movement of fibers had a clear effect on flow characteristics in the furnace.

High-performance carbon materials were prepared via a one-step molten salt carbonization of tobacco waste used as electrode materials for supercapacitors. Carbon material prepared by carbonization for 3 h in molten CaCl2 at 850 °C exhibits hierarchically porous structure and ideal capacitive behavior. In a three-electrode configuration with 1 mol L− 1 H2SO4 aqueous solution, it delivers specific capacitance of 196.5 F g− 1 at 0.2 A g− 1, energy density of 27.2 Wh kg− 1 at 0.2 A g− 1, power density of 983.5 W kg− 1 at 2 A g− 1, and excellent cyclic stability with 94% capacitance retention after 5000 charge–discharge cycles at 1 A g− 1. Moreover, in a symmetrical two-electrode configuration with 6 mol L− 1 KOH aqueous solution, it delivers specific capacitance of 111.1 F g− 1 at 0.2 A g− 1, energy density of 3.8 Wh kg− 1 at 0.2 A g− 1, and power density of 482.0 W kg− 1 at 2 A g− 1. The relationship between hierarchically porous structure and capacitive performance is also discussed.

Artificial graphites have been used in various applications, for example, as anode materials for Li-ion batteries, C/C composites, and electrodes for aluminum smelting, due to their unique mechanical strength and high thermal and electrical conductivity. Artificial graphites can be manufactured by a series of kneading, molding, carbonization and graphitization processes with an additional impregnation process. In this study, the influence of the process variables in the kneading and carbonization/graphitization process on the properties of the resulting carbon block was systemically investigated. During the kneading process, the optimum kneading temperature was 90 °C higher than the softening point of the binder pitch; thus, the binder pitch reached its maximum fluidity. On the other hand, during the carbonization and graphitization process, the structural properties of carbon blocks prepared at different heat treatment temperatures were examined and their structural change and evolution were closely described according to the temperature and divided into low-temperature carbonization and high-temperature carbonization/graphitization. Based on this study, we expect to provide a better understanding of setting the parameters for thermally conductive carbon block manufacturing.

In this study, gas flow pattern and temperature distribution in a laboratory scale low temperature furnace for carbonization were numerically analyzed. The furnace was designed for testing carbonization process of carbon fibers made from polyimide(PI) precursor. Nitrogen gas was used as a working gas and it was treated as an ideal gas. Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics analysis for steady state turbulent flow was used to analyze flow pattern and temperature field in the furnace. The results showed that more uniform velocity profile and axisymmetric temperature distribution could be obtained by varying mass flow rate at the inlets.

Nanostructured ZnO materials have been studied extensively because of their functional properties. This paper presents a composite material of zinc oxide quantum dots (ZnO QDs) and porous carbon using a one-step carbonization process. The direct carbonization of a metal–organic complex generates mesostructured porous carbon with a homogeneous distribution of ZnO QDs. The structural and morphological properties are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The resulting ZnO QDs@porous carbon composite delivers a high specific capacity of 990 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1, 357 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1, and high reversibility when evaluated as an anode for lithium ion batteries.

The structural transformationss of oriented poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) fibers impregnated with potassium bisulfate (PBS) were studied in detail on the way from PVA precursor fibers till carbonized at a temperature of 1000 °C fibers. It has been shown that the impregnation of PVA fibers with a sulfur-containing compound (PBS) is an efficient technique to decrease the thermoplasticity of PVA fibers during heat treatment at high temperatures in air and argon and contributes to a high yield of coke residue after heat treatment up to 1000 °C. TMA, TGA, DSC, mass spectrometry, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, WAXS and SAXS were used to study the structural transformations of oriented PVA fibers impregnated with PBS at the stages of their preliminary thermal stabilization (215 °C), thermal stabilization (215–400 °C) and carbonization (400–1000 °C). A reaction scheme has been proposed that fully describes carbonization chemistry in the entire studied temperature range. The processing temperature of 215 °C was found to be optimal for preliminary thermal stabilization of PVA fibers impregnated with PBS. The heat treatment in an inert medium can be recommended as the optimal for thermal stabilization of fibers impregnated with PBS. The characteristics of the carbonized PVA fibers, such as strength, modulus and electrical conductivity, were close to the characteristics of commercial cellulose-based carbon fibers yarns.

We report the structural characterization and electric heating performance of carbon thin films (CTFs), which were prepared from negative-type SU-8 photoresist by deep UV exposure and following carbonization. The prepared CTFs were found to have pseudo-graphitic carbon structures containing partially graphite domains in the amorphous carbon matrix. The CTFs showed a very smooth surface morphology with a roughness of 0.42 nm. The 107 nm-thick CTFs exhibited an excellent electric heating performance by attaining a high maximal temperature of 207 °C and a rapid heating rate of 13.2 °C/s at an applied voltage of 30 V. Therefore, the CTFs prepared in this study can be applied as electrode materials for high-performance electric heaters.

Isotropic pitch-based carbon fiber was successfully prepared from tetrahydrofuran-soluble fraction of coal tar pitch cocarbonization with petrolatum by air-blowing. The effects of reaction temperature and time, amount of petrolatum added on the composition and spinning properties of resultant pitches were investigated. It indicated that petrolatum could effectively improve the softening point, aromaticity, hydrogen content and molecular weight of the resultant pitches by promoting cross-linking and dehydrogenation polymerization reactions at low air-blowing temperature. Moreover, more aliphatic and naphthenic structures had been introduced into resultant pitches as addition of petrolatum and also inhibited the generation of quinoline-insoluble particles. The obtained green fibers were facile to be stabilized and carbonized and the resultant carbon fibers showed fully isotropic and finer, uniform diameter with smooth surface and higher tensile strength of up to 0.92 GPa. It provided a facile chemical modification method for isotropic pitch-based carbon fiber production.

residue as the raw material. As one of the preconceived raw material to produce high-quality coal-based carbon material, the changes of structure of CLP during liquid-phase carbonization process have been detailed investigated in this study. Actually, FTIR and curve-fitted method were used to quantitative analyze the aromaticity index (Iar), the ratio of CH3/ CH2, and basic functional groups (C=C, C=O, and C–O) of CLP and its liquid-phase carbonization products. Polarizing microscope, XRD and curve-fitted methods were used to characterize the microstructures of CLP and derived products. The results show that, branched chain and C=O group are the active reaction point in liquid-phase carbonization process. What’s more, 450 °C is a critical temperature point on the severe thermal polycondensation of CLP. The XRD and curve-fitted analysis of CLP and its liquid-phase carbonization products shows that, the stacking height (Lc), parallel layers (N), and the numbers of aromatic ring in each layer (n) are gradually larger with the improve of liquid-phase carbonization temperature.