Continuous-Flow Synthesis of Functional Carbonaceous Particles from Biomass under Hydrothermal Carbonization

Abstract

Plain and N-doped carbonaceous particles are synthesized from biomass resources such as glucose via continuous hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) process at 200 degrees C and 250 psi for the first time using a microfluidic system in a fast and continuous manner. The continuous HTC is controlled by reaction time (3.7-30 min) and concentration (0-10 wt. %) of ethylenediamine as a nitrogen additive to produce a series of the plain carbonaceous and N-doped carbonaceous particles with size range from 0.8 to 1.2 um. The as-synthesized and the pyrolyzed particles are characterized by various analytical instruments to understand their chemical structures with elemental compositions, morphology of particles, and thermal defunctionalization.