Angew: the Yu Shuhong research team at University of Science & Technology China has achieved ultra-fine carbon nanofiber aerogels from wood.

Carbon nanofibers with high specific surface, excellent mechanical properties, high conductivity and other excellent physical properties are widely concerned, and have a wide range of applications in energy, catalysis, environment, polymers and other fields At present, the rational design, synthesis and performance optimization of functional carbon nanofibers for specific applications are still the bottleneck of their practical application In particular, inexpensive, macro and sustainable preparation of carbon nanofiber aerogels has not yet been achieved Recently, the Yu Shuhong research team of University of Science & Technology China proposed a catalytic pyrolysis method to change the pyrolysis process of wood nanofibers For the first time, a high-quality ultrafine carbon nanofiber aerogel material was prepared from cheap wood as raw material The result was "Wood-Derived Ultrathin Carbon NanofiberAerogels" It was published in German Journal of Applied Chemistry (angelw Chem Int ed 2018, 57, 7085-7090) The first author of the paper is Li Sicheng, a doctoral student Cellulose is widely found in plants in nature Due to its wide source, low cost and friendly environment, lignocellulosic material is an ideal precursor for preparing carbon nanofibers aerogels However, because the smallest size of lignocellulosic nanofibers shrinks strongly in the process of pyrolytic carbon fiber preparation, there is no precedent for the successful preparation of carbon nanofiber aerogels using wood as raw material For this reason, the researchers proposed a catalytic pyrolysis method By using p-toluenesulfonic acid to catalyze the rapid dehydration of lignocellulose in the early stage of pyrolysis, and changing its pyrolysis process and intermediate products, the lignocellulose can have a high carbon yield after pyrolysis and maintain a good three-dimensional network structure at the same time This catalytic pyrolysis method can transform the cheap and abundant precursor materials into high value-added carbon nanofiber materials, which has guiding significance for the development of green chemical synthesis of renewable materials The average diameter of the superfine carbon nanofibers prepared by this method is only 6 nm, with high conductivity (710.9 SM-1) and specific surface area (553-689 M 2 g-1) Due to its unique three-dimensional mesh structure, excellent electrical conductivity and high specific surface area, the carbon nanofiber aerogel prepared by the research team can directly be used to assemble supercapacitors without binders and exhibit excellent capacitance properties in pure carbon supercapacitor materials This new carbon nanofiber aerogel can also be applied to water purification Chemical and electrocatalyst supports and battery electrode materials, etc After the paper was published, it was selected as the research highlights by the academic media, such as Science Daily, phys.org, Wiley newsroom and so on, with the title of "wood to supercapacitors" In recent years, the team has carried out a series of research on the synthesis, functionalization and application of carbon nanofibers Development of template directed hydrothermal carbonization and direct carbonization of biomass bacterial cellulose has been used to prepare carbon nanofiber aerogel materials Based on these materials, a series of functional nanomaterials have been prepared through rational chemical modification functionalization, and the applications of these materials in environmental, energy, catalysis and polymer composites have been explored (Acc Chem Res 2013 , 46 , 1450-1461; Acc Chem Res 2016 , 49 , 96-105 ）。 Recently, the research team was invited to write a review paper entitled "emerging carbon nanofiber aerogels: chemosynthesis versus biosynthesis" for German Applied Chemistry (angel Chem Int ed 2018, DOI:10.1002/anie.201802663 ) systematically analyzed and compared the advantages and disadvantages of the chemical transformation method and the biological method for preparing carbon nanofiber materials developed by the team, summarized the series of progress made in the physical and chemical properties, functional methods and applications of the two carbon nanofiber materials prepared by these synthetic routes, and put forward suggestions for future research on carbon nanofiber aerogel materials and future noteworthy subjects Learning problems The above work is supported by the innovation research group of NSFC, NSFC key fund, national major scientific research plan, key research project of cutting edge science of Chinese Academy of Sciences, nanoscience innovation center of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou nanotechnology Association innovation center and Hefei University Science Center excellent user fund.