Background
The carbon aerogel material has excellent performance and has good application potential in novel batteries, environmental protection, biomedical and other national strategic emerging industries. However, due to the reasons of expensive raw materials, complex preparation process, long production period, large-scale production difficulty and the like, the carbon aerogel product has high cost, is unacceptable in market and is difficult to industrialize.
In recent years, domestic research on carbon aerogel production processes is increasing, and mass production has been achieved. In the current mature production process, resorcinol and formaldehyde are mixed in a certain proportion into an oil phase for dispersion, and then polymerized at a certain temperature.
A method for preparing carbon aerogel disclosed in chinese patent application 201611110955.8, the method comprising the steps of: step one, resorcinol and formaldehyde are used as raw materials, organic amine is used as a catalyst, water is used as a solvent, and the mixture is stirred uniformly to carry out gel reaction to obtain an intermediate product; aging the obtained intermediate product to obtain organic wet gel; step three, vacuumizing and drying the organic wet gel to obtain organic aerogel; and fourthly, placing the organic aerogel in a carbonization furnace, heating and carbonizing under the protection of nitrogen, and naturally cooling to room temperature to obtain the carbon aerogel. However, as the price of chemical raw materials increases, the price of resorcinol is so high (10-12 ten thousand yuan/ton in 2020) that the cost price of carbon aerogel prepared by adopting resorcinol is higher than that of super-active carbon of competing products, and the market competitiveness is lost.
Phenol is inexpensive (1 ten thousand yuan/ton in 2020), and can be used as a substitute for resorcinol or polymerized with formaldehyde to obtain a precursor. However, since phenol contains only one hydroxyl group, ortho-para-reactivity is far less than resorcinol, resulting in a slow polymerization rate. Moreover, the precursor prepared from phenol has the problems of shrinkage, collapse of internal structure and low specific surface area after carbonization, and the quality of subsequent products is affected. In addition, phenol is soluble in white oil, which causes insufficient reaction, low yield, difficult separation from white oil and the like, and is not beneficial to environmental protection. The above problems limit the cost-effective production of carbon aerogel precursors from phenol instead of expensive resorcinol.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims at solving the problems existing in the prior art, and provides a low-cost preparation method of a carbon aerogel precursor, which has the advantages of low raw material price, low production cost, high product performance, safety and environmental protection.
In order to solve the problems, the technical scheme of the invention is as follows: the mixed solution of phenol and formaldehyde is refluxed to a critical state to be solidified at high temperature, at this time, the phenol and formaldehyde are polymerized into chain shape, the reaction rate reaches the fastest, and ice water is used for cooling to stop the reaction. The critical reaction solution was cut with an emulsion pump, and the droplets were separated with a white oil containing a surfactant to prevent re-adhesion. And (3) adding the cut granular critical reaction liquid into high-temperature white oil, restarting the reaction, and instantly solidifying the reaction liquid.
The invention discloses a low-cost preparation method of a carbon aerogel precursor, which specifically comprises the following steps:
(1) Adding phenol into formaldehyde aqueous solution, adding a catalyst, stirring and dissolving to obtain a mixture aqueous solution; the catalyst is one of potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide and calcium hydroxide, the molar ratio of the phenol to formaldehyde is generally controlled within the range of 1 (1.3-3.3), and the preferable range is 1 (1.5-3); the stirring and dissolving temperature is controlled to be in the range of 30-60 ℃,
the catalyst can also be organic base triethylamine.
(2) Refluxing the mixture aqueous solution obtained in the step (1) to a critical state to be solidified at the temperature of 55-85 ℃, then rapidly placing the mixture aqueous solution in ice water for cooling, and stopping the reaction process to obtain a precursor aqueous solution with a certain crosslinking degree;
the preferable reflux temperature is controlled in the range of 60-80 ℃ and the reflux time is controlled in the range of 1-8 hours.
(3) Mixing a surfactant and white oil, and uniformly stirring and mixing at room temperature to prepare a white oil mixed solution; the surfactant is span 80 or other surfactants with similar properties.
(4) And (3) naturally cooling 1.8-10.0% of the total amount of the white oil mixed solution for standby, and heating the rest of the white oil mixed solution to 75-105 ℃.
(5) And (3) respectively feeding the precursor aqueous solution obtained in the step (2) and the white oil mixed solution which is naturally cooled for standby in the step (4) into an emulsifying pump to be fully mixed into suspension, wherein the flow ratio of the precursor aqueous solution to the white oil mixed solution is generally controlled within the range of (8-50): 1, and preferably within the range of (9-15): 1.
(6) The suspension liquid is discharged out of the emulsification pump and directly enters the heated white oil mixed liquid to fully react with the heated white oil mixed liquid, so as to obtain precursor white oil slurry; the reaction temperature is controlled to be 80-95 ℃ and the reaction time is 10-30 hours.
(7) The precursor white oil slurry is subjected to solid-liquid separation and washing to obtain a carbon aerogel precursor; the washing uses any one solvent of methanol, ethanol and dichloromethane, and a mixed solvent of two or three solvents.
Compared with the prior art, the low-cost preparation method of the carbon aerogel precursor has the following beneficial effects:
(1) And the low-cost phenol is adopted to replace the expensive resorcinol, so that the cost is saved.
(2) Phenol and formaldehyde are pre-reacted for a period of time, so that the phenol is polymerized to a certain extent, the reactivity of the phenol is improved, the subsequent reaction can be rapidly carried out, the shrinkage and collapse of a precursor are reduced, the specific surface area of a subsequent carbonized sample is improved, and the product quality is improved.
(3) The pre-reaction causes the polymerization of phenol formaldehyde, the molecular weight is increased, the reaction is more complete, the reaction yield is improved, and the cost is saved.
(4) Almost no phenol enters the white oil after the pre-reaction, and the white oil is easier to recycle and more environment-friendly.
Description of the embodiments
In order to describe the present invention, a method for preparing a carbon aerogel precursor according to the present invention at low cost will be described in further detail with reference to examples. The invention is not limited to the examples.
Examples
(1) Adding 94.11g of phenol into 121.74g of formaldehyde aqueous solution with the mass concentration of 37%, wherein the molar ratio of the phenol to the formaldehyde is 1:1.5, adding 0.9g of sodium hydroxide, stirring and dissolving, and controlling the stirring and dissolving temperature within the range of 30-60 ℃ to obtain a mixture aqueous solution;
(2) Refluxing the mixture water solution at 80 ℃ for 7 hours and 15 minutes until the mixture water solution reaches a critical state to be solidified, then rapidly placing the mixture water solution into ice water for cooling, and stopping the reaction process to obtain a precursor water solution with a certain crosslinking degree;
(3) Adding 5ml of surfactant span 80 into 500ml of white oil, and uniformly stirring at room temperature to prepare a white oil mixed solution;
(4) Naturally cooling 30ml of white oil mixed solution for standby, and heating the rest white oil mixed solution to 95 ℃;
(5) Starting an emulsion pump, regulating the rotating speed to 1000r/min, and controlling the flow ratio of the precursor aqueous solution to the white oil mixed solution for natural cooling to be 10:1, fully mixing the two materials into suspension in an emulsification pump;
(6) The suspension is discharged out of an emulsification pump and directly enters the heated white oil mixed solution to fully react with the heated white oil mixed solution, and the mixture is continuously kept at 95 ℃ to fully react for 10 hours to obtain precursor white oil slurry;
(7) Finally, the slurry is subjected to solid-liquid separation and washing to obtain a carbon aerogel precursor.
Examples
(1) Adding 94.11g of phenol into 121.74g of formaldehyde aqueous solution with the mass concentration of 37%, wherein the molar ratio of the phenol to the formaldehyde is 1:1.5, adding 0.9g of sodium hydroxide, stirring and dissolving, and controlling the stirring and dissolving temperature within the range of 30-60 ℃ to obtain a mixture aqueous solution;
(2) Refluxing the mixture water solution at 60 ℃ for 12 hours and 20 minutes until the mixture water solution reaches a critical state to be solidified, then rapidly placing the mixture water solution into ice water for cooling, and stopping the reaction process to obtain a precursor water solution with a certain crosslinking degree;
(3) Adding 300ml of white oil into 5ml of surfactant span 80, and uniformly stirring at room temperature to prepare a white oil mixed solution;
(4) Naturally cooling 10ml of white oil mixed solution for standby, and heating the rest white oil mixed solution to 95 ℃;
(5) Starting an emulsion pump, regulating the rotating speed to 1000r/min, and controlling the flow ratio of the precursor aqueous solution to the white oil mixed solution for natural cooling to be 10:1, fully mixing the two materials into suspension in an emulsification pump;
(6) The suspension is discharged out of an emulsification pump and directly enters the heated white oil mixed solution to fully react with the heated white oil mixed solution, and the mixture is continuously kept at 95 ℃ to fully react for 12 hours to obtain precursor white oil slurry;
(7) Finally, the slurry is subjected to solid-liquid separation and washing to obtain a carbon aerogel precursor.
Examples
(1) Adding 47.06g of phenol into 60.87g of formaldehyde aqueous solution with the mass concentration of 37%, wherein the molar ratio of the phenol to the formaldehyde is 1:1.5, adding 0.5g of sodium hydroxide, stirring and dissolving, and controlling the stirring and dissolving temperature within the range of 30-60 ℃ to obtain a mixture aqueous solution;
(2) Refluxing the mixture water solution at 70 ℃ for 8 hours and 55 minutes until the mixture water solution reaches a critical state to be solidified, then rapidly placing the mixture water solution into ice water for cooling, and stopping the reaction process to obtain a precursor water solution with a certain crosslinking degree;
(3) Adding 500ml of white oil into 5ml of surfactant span 80, and uniformly stirring at room temperature to prepare a white oil mixed solution;
(4) Naturally cooling 10ml of white oil mixed solution for standby, and heating the rest white oil mixed solution to 90 ℃;
(5) Starting an emulsion pump, regulating the rotating speed to 1000r/min, and controlling the flow ratio of the precursor aqueous solution to the white oil mixed solution for natural cooling to be 10:1, fully mixing the two materials into suspension in an emulsification pump;
(6) The suspension is discharged out of an emulsification pump and directly enters the heated white oil mixed solution to fully react with the heated white oil mixed solution, and the mixture is continuously kept at 90 ℃ to fully react for 15 hours to obtain precursor white oil slurry;
(7) Finally, the slurry is subjected to solid-liquid separation and washing to obtain a carbon aerogel precursor.
Examples
(1) Adding 47.06g of phenol into 121.74g of formaldehyde aqueous solution with the mass concentration of 37%, wherein the molar ratio of the phenol to the formaldehyde is 1:3, adding 0.5g of sodium hydroxide, stirring and dissolving, and controlling the stirring and dissolving temperature within the range of 30-60 ℃ to obtain a mixture aqueous solution;
(2) Refluxing the mixture water solution at 80 ℃ for 8 hours and 30 minutes until the mixture water solution reaches a critical state to be solidified, then rapidly placing the mixture water solution into ice water for cooling, and stopping the reaction process to obtain a precursor water solution with a certain crosslinking degree;
(3) Adding 3ml of surfactant span 80 into 300ml of white oil, and uniformly stirring at room temperature to prepare a white oil mixed solution;
(4) Naturally cooling 30ml of white oil mixed solution for standby, and heating the rest white oil mixed solution to 80 ℃;
(5) Starting an emulsion pump, regulating the rotating speed to 1000r/min, and controlling the flow ratio of the precursor aqueous solution to the white oil mixed solution for natural cooling to be 10:1, fully mixing the two materials into suspension in an emulsification pump;
(6) The suspension is discharged out of an emulsification pump and directly enters the heated white oil mixed solution to fully react with the heated white oil mixed solution, and the mixture is continuously kept at 80 ℃ to fully react for 24 hours to obtain precursor white oil slurry;
(7) Finally, the slurry is subjected to solid-liquid separation and washing to obtain a carbon aerogel precursor.
Examples
(1) Adding 47.06g of phenol into 121.74g of formaldehyde aqueous solution with the mass concentration of 37%, wherein the molar ratio of the phenol to the formaldehyde is 1:3, adding 1g of sodium hydroxide, stirring and dissolving, and controlling the stirring and dissolving temperature within the range of 30-60 ℃ to obtain a mixture aqueous solution;
(2) Refluxing the mixture water solution at 90 ℃ for 6 hours and 25 minutes until the mixture water solution reaches a critical state to be solidified, then rapidly placing the mixture water solution into ice water for cooling, and stopping the reaction process to obtain a precursor water solution with a certain crosslinking degree;
(3) Adding 600ml of white oil into 6ml of surfactant span 80, and uniformly stirring at room temperature to prepare a white oil mixed solution;
(4) Naturally cooling 30ml of white oil mixed solution for standby, and heating the rest white oil mixed solution to 90 ℃;
(5) Starting an emulsion pump, regulating the rotating speed to 1000r/min, and controlling the flow ratio of the precursor aqueous solution to the white oil mixed solution for natural cooling to be 10:1, fully mixing the two materials into suspension in an emulsification pump;
(6) The suspension is discharged out of an emulsification pump and directly enters the heated white oil mixed solution to fully react with the heated white oil mixed solution, and the mixture is continuously kept at 90 ℃ to fully react for 12 hours to obtain precursor white oil slurry;
(7) Finally, the slurry is subjected to solid-liquid separation and washing to obtain a carbon aerogel precursor.
Examples
(1) Adding 47.06g of phenol into 81.16g of formaldehyde aqueous solution with the mass concentration of 37%, wherein the molar ratio of the phenol to the formaldehyde is 1:2, adding 0.5g of sodium hydroxide, stirring and dissolving, and controlling the stirring and dissolving temperature within the range of 30-60 ℃ to obtain a mixture aqueous solution;
(2) Refluxing the mixture water solution at 60 ℃ for 8 hours and 30 minutes until the mixture water solution reaches a critical state to be solidified, then rapidly placing the mixture water solution into ice water for cooling, and stopping the reaction process to obtain a precursor water solution with a certain crosslinking degree;
(3) Adding 500ml of white oil into 5ml of surfactant span 80, and uniformly stirring at room temperature to prepare a white oil mixed solution;
(4) Taking 50ml of white oil mixed solution, naturally cooling for standby, and heating the rest white oil mixed solution to 80 ℃;
(5) Starting an emulsion pump, regulating the rotating speed to 1000r/min, and controlling the flow ratio of the precursor aqueous solution to the white oil mixed solution for natural cooling to be 10:1, fully mixing the two materials into suspension in an emulsification pump;
(6) The suspension is discharged out of an emulsification pump and directly enters the heated white oil mixed solution to fully react with the heated white oil mixed solution, and the mixture is continuously kept at 80 ℃ to fully react for 15 hours to obtain precursor white oil slurry;
(7) Finally, the slurry is subjected to solid-liquid separation and washing to obtain a carbon aerogel precursor.
The tap density and specific surface area of the dried and carbonized precursor prepared in examples 1-6 were measured as follows:
table 1 comparison of examples with phenol without reflux, yield of resorcinol, tap density of carbonization, specific surface area
|
Phenol (non-reflux)
|
Resorcinol
|
Example 1
|
Example 2
|
Example 3
|
Example 4
|
Example 5
|
Example 6
|
Yield/%
|
75.2
|
99.9
|
99.8
|
98.2
|
99.5
|
99.5
|
99.6
|
99.2
|
Tap density g/cm 3 |
0.7273
|
0.8385
|
0.8281
|
0.8366
|
0.8577
|
0.7923
|
0.7852
|
0.8088
|
Specific surface area m 2 /g
|
2.5
|
536
|
520
|
533
|
505
|
678
|
623
|
578 |
From the table, the carbon aerogel precursor prepared by the method has high tap density and greatly improved specific surface area after being dried and carbonized. Can replace resorcinol to prepare the precursor.