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Heteroatom-doped highly porous carbon from human urine.

ABSTRACT: Human urine, otherwise potentially polluting waste, is an universal unused resource in organic form disposed by the human body. We present for the first time "proof of concept" of a convenient, perhaps economically beneficial, and innovative template-free route to synthesize highly porous carbon containing heteroatoms such as N, S, Si, and P from human urine waste as a single precursor for carbon and multiple heteroatoms. High porosity is created through removal of inherently-present salt particles in as-prepared "Urine Carbon" (URC), and multiple heteroatoms are naturally doped into the carbon, making it unnecessary to employ troublesome expensive pore-generating templates as well as extra costly heteroatom-containing organic precursors. Additionally, isolation of rock salts is an extra bonus of present work. The technique is simple, but successful, offering naturally doped conductive hierarchical porous URC, which leads to superior electrocatalytic ORR activity comparable to state of the art Pt/C catalyst along with much improved durability and methanol tolerance, demonstrating that the URC can be a promising alternative to costly Pt-based electrocatalyst for ORR. The ORR activity can be addressed in terms of heteroatom doping, surface properties and electrical conductivity of the carbon framework.

SUBMITTER: Chaudhari NK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4049026 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Heteroatom-doped highly porous carbon from human urine.

Chaudhari Nitin Kaduba NK Song Min Young MY Yu Jong-Sung JS

Scientific reports 20140609

Human urine, otherwise potentially polluting waste, is an universal unused resource in organic form disposed by the human body. We present for the first time "proof of concept" of a convenient, perhaps economically beneficial, and innovative template-free route to synthesize highly porous carbon containing heteroatoms such as N, S, Si, and P from human urine waste as a single precursor for carbon and multiple heteroatoms. High porosity is created through removal of inherently-present salt partic ...[more]

PMID: 24909133

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Project description:Heteroatom-doped porous carbon membranes (HPCMMs) with a tailor-made pore architecture, chemical composition, atomic structural order, and surface state represent an exciting family of porous carbon materials for diverse potential applications in catalysis, water treatment, biofiltration, energy conversion/storage, and so forth. Conventional porous carbon membranes possess intrinsic structural integrity, interconnectivity, and chemical purity across the atomic-to-macro world and have been popularly incorporated into devices as separators or chemically inert conductive supports, circumventing otherwise the inevitable complicated processing and structure weakness of their fine powderous counterpart. Motivated by the distinguished heteroatom-doping effect that revolutionizes the chemical and physical nature of carbon materials, the HPCMM research surges very recently, and focuses not only on the eminent conductive supports or separators but also on electro(co)catalysts in energy devices. Synergy of the porous nature, incorporation of heteroatoms, and the membrane state creates a vivid profile pattern and new task-specific usage. It is also noteworthy that the inherent structural merits of HPCMMs plus a high electron conductivity imbue them as a reliable binder-free model electrode to derive the intrinsic structure-property relationship of porous carbons in electrochemical environments, excluding the complex and adverse factors in association with polymer binders in carbon powder-based electrodes. HPCMMs are of both intense academic interest and practical value because of their well-defined properties endowed by controllable structure and porosity at both atomic and macroscopic scales in a membrane form. The sole aim of this article is to bring this group of porous carbon materials to the forefront so their comprehensive properties and functions can be better understood to serve the carbon community to address pressing materials challenges in our society. In this Account, we highlight the latest discovery and proceedings of HPCMMs, particularly the advancements in how to tailor structures and properties of HPCMMs by rational structure design of porous polymer membranes as sacrificial template built up especially from heteroatom-rich poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs). We will also stress the carbonization craft and the state-of-the-art electrochemical applications for HPCMMs. Key factors and thoughts in heteroatom doping and porous systems in HPCMMs are discussed. A future perspective of the challenges and promising potential of HPCMMs is cast on the basis of these achievements.

Dataset Information

Heteroatom-doped highly porous carbon from human urine.

Publications

Heteroatom-doped highly porous carbon from human urine.

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