Disclosure of Invention
In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for preparing a carbon aerogel and a precursor thereof, which can increase the reaction rate of obtaining a carbon aerogel precursor by a sol-gel reaction, increase the production efficiency, and facilitate the industrial production of the carbon aerogel.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for preparing a carbon aerogel precursor, comprising:
placing the raw material mixed solution in an electrolytic cell;
supplying current to the raw material mixed liquid through the electrolytic cell, and continuously reacting for a first time to obtain a carbon aerogel precursor, wherein,
the raw material mixed liquid comprises at least one phenolic compound, formaldehyde and inorganic salt.
Optionally, the phenol series compound comprises at least one of resorcinol and its homologues, catechol and its homologues, phenol and its homologues, bisphenol a and its homologues, and cresol and its homologues.
Optionally, the inorganic salt comprises at least one of sodium chloride, zinc chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride.
Optionally, the ratio of formaldehyde to inorganic salt to at least one phenolic compound in the raw material mixture is 1-10 g: 1-15 g: 0.1-5.0 g.
Optionally, the intensity of the current provided is 1-50 milliamperes.
Optionally, the intensity of the current provided is 20-30 milliamperes.
Optionally, the current is provided by a regulated constant current source.
Optionally, the first time is 0.5-8 hours.
Optionally, the electrodes of the electrolytic cell are inert electrodes.
Optionally, the electrode material of the inert electrode comprises at least one of platinum, gold, and a conductive carbon material.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for preparing a carbon aerogel, comprising:
a carbon aerogel precursor obtained according to the method for preparing a carbon aerogel precursor of the present invention;
and drying the carbon aerogel precursor, then pyrolyzing the dried carbon aerogel precursor, and removing impurities in the carbonized material obtained by pyrolysis to obtain the carbon aerogel.
Optionally, the pyrolyzing comprises:
and placing the dried carbon aerogel precursor in an inert gas environment, and preserving the heat at the first temperature for a second time to obtain the carbonized material.
Optionally, the first temperature is 700-1100 ℃, and the second time is 1-5 hours.
Optionally, the first temperature is 800-950 ℃, and the second time is 2-3 hours.
Optionally, the dry gas pressure at which the carbon aerogel precursor is dried is atmospheric pressure.
Optionally, the specific surface area of the obtained carbon aerogel is 1500-3000 m2/g。
According to the preparation method of the carbon aerogel precursor, provided by the invention, current is supplied to the raw material mixed liquid, the sol-gel reaction of the raw material mixed liquid is catalyzed by adopting an electrochemical method, and the inorganic salt is used as a carrier for electron transmission, so that the rate of the sol-gel reaction is greatly increased, the preparation speed of the carbon aerogel precursor is increased, and the preparation speed of the carbon aerogel is further increased. And the inorganic salt is also used as a pore-forming agent, so that the pore diameter of pore-forming can be improved, and the specific surface area can be improved.
The preparation method of the carbon aerogel provided by the invention adopts the preparation method of the carbon aerogel precursor to prepare the carbon aerogel precursor, the carbon aerogel precursor is dried and pyrolyzed according to the carbon aerogel precursor to obtain the carbon aerogel, the inorganic salt enables the carbon aerogel precursor to be in a super-salt environment, the mechanical strength is high, the drying operation is directly performed under normal pressure, the operation is convenient, the production efficiency is improved conveniently, no air pressure control equipment is needed, and the cost is low. The pore-forming agent is inorganic salt, inorganic salt impurities removed by the pore-forming agent can be conveniently removed by washing, and the pore-forming agent does not need to be activated after pyrolysis and carbonization and is convenient to use.
Detailed Description
Various embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like elements in the various figures are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals. For purposes of clarity, the various features in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.
The following detailed description of embodiments of the present invention is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings and examples.
Fig. 1 shows a flow diagram of a method for preparing a carbon aerogel according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Referring to fig. 1, a method for preparing a carbon aerogel according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:
step S01: and placing the raw material mixed liquor in an electrolytic cell.
The raw material mixed liquid comprises at least one phenolic compound, formaldehyde, inorganic salt and deionized water, and is uniformly stirred after being mixed to obtain the raw material mixed liquid, wherein the solid content of the raw material mixed liquid is adjusted by adjusting the amount of the deionized water, and in the embodiment, the mass ratio of the main solid component in the raw material mixed liquid to the deionized water is 2-9: 1.
In this embodiment, the phenol-series compound is at least one of resorcinol and its homologues, catechol and its homologues, phenol and its homologues, bisphenol a and its homologues, and creosol and its homologues. The inorganic salt includes at least one of sodium chloride, zinc chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride and potassium chloride (further, zinc chloride), and has a low melting point, so that the pores can be conveniently removed from the inorganic salt in the subsequent activating and pore-forming step.
The ratio of the formaldehyde to the inorganic salt to the phenol compound in the raw material mixture is 1-10 g: 1-15 g: 0.1-5.0 g.
Step S02: and supplying current to the raw material mixed liquor through an electrolytic cell, and continuously reacting for the first time to obtain the carbon aerogel precursor.
In this embodiment, the electrodes of the electrolytic cell are inert electrodes to avoid the electrodes participating in the reaction of the raw material mixture, and to ensure the reliability of the sol-gel reaction of the raw material mixture under the action of the current. The electrode material of the inert electrode is, for example, an inert conductive material such as platinum, gold, a conductive carbon material, and the like.
In this embodiment, a voltage-stabilizing constant current source is used to provide current, the intensity of the provided current is 1 to 50 milliamperes (further, 20 to 30mA), and the current is continuously provided for 0.5 to 80 hours (first time), so as to ensure the sufficient progress of the sol-gel reaction and the quality of the obtained carbon aerogel precursor.
Step S03: and pyrolyzing the carbon xerogel to obtain a carbonized material, and removing pore-forming agents in the carbonized material to obtain the carbon aerogel.
In step S03, the step of drying the carbon aerogel precursor includes: the carbon aerogel precursor is dried (the solvent in the voids is removed while maintaining the structure of the gel) at a temperature of 50 degrees celsius under normal pressure (one standard atmospheric pressure, having a certain deviation according to the actual experimental environment, but having no particular influence on the practice of the present invention, and the specific range thereof is not particularly limited, for example, the structural characteristics of the obtained carbon xerogel can be ensured even when the deviation reaches ± 20%), to obtain the carbon xerogel.
And (3) pyrolyzing (carbonizing) the carbon xerogel, cooling the carbon xerogel to room temperature after pyrolysis is finished, washing the obtained carbonized material to be neutral to remove impurities (mainly inorganic salt serving as a pore-forming agent) in the carbonized material, washing the carbonized material with water, and drying the washed carbonized material to obtain the target carbon aerogel. The specific surface area of the finally obtained carbon aerogel is 1500-3000 m2/g。
In this embodiment, the pyrolysis carbonization operation includes: and (3) placing the carbon xerogel in an inert gas environment, heating to a first temperature and keeping for a second time to obtain a carbonized material, wherein the first temperature is 700-1100 ℃, and the second time is 1-5 hours (further, the first temperature is 800-950 ℃, and the second time is 2-3 hours). Wherein the inert gas is at least one of nitrogen and helium.
The preparation method of the carbon aerogel in the embodiment of the invention adopts an electrochemical method to catalyze the sol-gel reaction, and uses the inorganic salt as a carrier for electron transmission, so that the preparation speed of the carbon aerogel precursor is improved, the power supply current of electrolytic catalysis is small, and the energy consumption is low.
The inorganic salt is used as a pore-forming agent, the preparation environment of the carbon aerogel is a super-salt environment, the mechanical strength of the obtained carbon aerogel precursor is high, direct drying under normal pressure is facilitated, and the operation is convenient.
The inorganic salt can be effectively removed by washing with deionized water after the carbon xerogel is pyrolyzed and carbonized, subsequent treatments such as activation and the like are not needed after carbonization, and the obtained carbon aerogel has high purity and is particularly suitable for the fields of electrochemistry, medicine, environmental protection and the like.
The properties of the carbon aerogel obtained by the method for producing a carbon aerogel according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to examples 1 to 4.
Example l
In a 100ml electrolytic cell with inert electrode, 60g of deionized water was added, followed by weighing 11g of m-xylylenePhenol, 16g of formaldehyde (corresponding to a concentration of 37% in the formaldehyde solution), and 6g of sodium chloride were added to the electrolytic cell, and after magnetic stirring for 30min, 10mA constant current was continuously applied to the electrolytic cell for 8 hours to obtain a carbon aerogel precursor. Drying at normal pressure and 50 ℃ to obtain the carbon xerogel. And placing the carbon xerogel in a quartz boat, heating to 350 ℃ at the heating rate of 5 ℃/min in the nitrogen atmosphere, keeping for 0.5h, continuing heating to 1000 ℃ at the heating rate of 5 ℃/min, keeping for 2h, cooling to room temperature, and taking out. And washing the carbonized sample to be neutral by using deionized water, and drying at 120 ℃ to obtain the porous carbon aerogel with high specific surface area. The specific surface area of the carbon aerogel sample is 2000m2G, density 0.29g/cm3The aperture of the material is 2 nm.
Example 2
70g of deionized water is added into a 100ml electrolytic cell with an inert electrode, then 9.5g of phenol, 18g of formaldehyde (corresponding to the concentration of the formaldehyde solution being 37 percent) and 12g of zinc chloride are weighed into the electrolytic cell, after magnetic stirring is carried out for 30min, 50mA constant current is continuously introduced into the electrolytic cell for 4 hours, and the carbon aerogel precursor is obtained. Drying at 60 ℃ under normal pressure to obtain the carbon xerogel. And placing the carbon xerogel on a quartz boat, heating to 350 ℃ at the heating rate of 5 ℃/min in the nitrogen atmosphere, keeping for 0.5h, continuously heating to 1000 ℃ at the heating rate of 5 ℃/min, keeping for 5h, cooling to room temperature, and taking out. And washing the carbonized sample to be neutral by using deionized water, and drying at 120 ℃ to obtain the porous carbon aerogel with high specific surface area. The specific surface area of the carbon aerogel sample is 2500m2G, density 0.20g/cm3The aperture of the material is 1.9 nm.
Example 3
70g of deionized water is added into a 100ml electrolytic cell with an inert electrode, then 5.5g of resorcinol, 4.5g of phenol, 25g of formaldehyde (corresponding to the concentration of the formaldehyde solution being 37%) and 10g of potassium chloride are weighed into the electrolytic cell, after magnetic stirring is carried out for 30min, 30mA constant current is continuously introduced into the electrolytic cell for 8 hours, and the carbon aerogel precursor is obtained. Drying at 55 ℃ under normal pressure to obtain carbon xerogel. Placing the carbon xerogel in a quartz boat, heating to 350 ℃ at a heating rate of 5 ℃/min in the nitrogen atmosphere, keeping for 0.5h, and continuously heating to 900 ℃ at a heating rate of 5 ℃/minKeeping for 4h, cooling to room temperature and taking out. And washing the carbonized sample to be neutral by using deionized water, and drying at 120 ℃ to obtain the porous carbon aerogel with high specific surface area. The specific surface area of the carbon aerogel sample is 2600m2G, density 0.21g/cm3The aperture of the material is 2.1 nm.
Example 4
70g of deionized water is added into a 100ml electrolytic cell with an inert electrode, then 5.5g of resorcinol, 6.0g of mixed cresol, 26g of formaldehyde (corresponding to the concentration of the formaldehyde solution being 37%) and 12g of zinc chloride are weighed into the electrolytic cell, after magnetic stirring is carried out for 30min, 50mA constant current is continuously introduced into the electrolytic cell for 4 hours, and the carbon aerogel precursor is obtained. Drying at 60 ℃ under normal pressure to obtain the carbon xerogel. And (3) placing the carbon xerogel in a quartz boat, heating to 400 ℃ at the heating rate of 5 ℃/min in the nitrogen atmosphere, keeping for 0.5h, continuing heating to 1000 ℃ at the heating rate of 5 ℃/min, keeping for 5h, cooling to room temperature, and taking out. And washing the carbonized sample to be neutral by using deionized water, and drying at 120 ℃ to obtain the porous carbon aerogel with high specific surface area. The specific surface area of the carbon aerogel sample is 2400m2G, density 0.27g/cm3The aperture of the material is 1.8 nm.
According to the embodiments 1 to 4, the specific surface area of the carbon aerogel obtained by the preparation method of the carbon aerogel in the embodiment of the invention reaches 2000m2The pore diameter is mainly 0-10 nanometers and is between the pore diameter range of micropores and mesopores.
The preparation method of the carbon aerogel precursor provided by the invention adopts an electrochemical method to catalyze the sol-gel reaction of the raw material mixed solution, and takes the inorganic salt as the carrier of electron transmission, so that the rate of the sol-gel reaction is greatly increased, the preparation speed of the carbon aerogel precursor is increased, and the preparation speed of the carbon aerogel is further increased. And the inorganic salt is also used as a pore-forming agent, so that the pore diameter of pore-forming can be improved, and the specific surface area can be improved.
Further, the inorganic salt is selected from chlorate, and the chlorate has low melting point, so that the filling of the chlorate to the pore-forming is conveniently released in the pyrolysis step in the preparation of the carbon aerogel.
The preparation method of the carbon aerogel provided by the invention adopts the preparation method of the carbon aerogel precursor to prepare the carbon aerogel precursor, and the carbon aerogel is obtained by drying and pyrolyzing the carbon aerogel precursor. The pore-forming agent is inorganic salt, inorganic salt impurities removed by the pore-forming agent can be simply removed by washing, and the pore-forming agent does not need to be activated after pyrolysis and carbonization and is convenient to use.
While embodiments in accordance with the invention have been described above, these embodiments are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise embodiments described. Obviously, many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. The invention is limited only by the claims and their full scope and equivalents.