(349a) Self-Assembled, Nanostructured Carbon for Energy Storage and Water Treatment

The ease of synthesis, tailorability, and energy storage capacity make carbon-based materials very attractive for energy storage applications. Self-assembly through templating is one way to tailor carbon-based materials, enabling the formation of a uniform porous network in the mesopore size regime via manipulation and control of macroscopic process variables. Further activation results in a bimodal pore structure where micropores are present with the mesopores. The larger mesopores allow for faster electrolyte transport as well as impregnation by larger ions in the electrolyte. These characteristics, coupled with the research on electrolytes with large electrochemical windows, provide a basis for the use of templated carbons in energy storage.

This presentation will highlight ongoing efforts to translate a nanoscale science discovery in the synthesis of templated carbon materials (1) into a scalable technology for into industrially viable technologies for two important, large-scale applications: electrochemical double-layer capacitors for electrical energy storage, and capacitive deionization systems for water treatment.

Recent and ongoing work aims to develop improved synthetic approaches to reduce cost and waste generation and to develop reliable manufacturing processes to produce these nanostructured carbon materials. The alternative synthesis approaches have made significant improvements in the cost and waste production during synthesis, while continuing to produce materials with high available surface area. Recovery and reuse of solvent results in a greater than 50% reduction from the original process in both waste production and raw materials costs. Utilization of greener raw materials, particularly replacement of phloroglucinol by either a less expensive fossil-derived compound or a biomass-derived material, results in additional savings ? a process that combines ethanol recycle and alternative precursors results in approximately 70% reduction in raw materials costs. Experimental efforts to scale up production and activation will be described.

1. C. Liang and S. Dai, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2006, 128 (16), pp 5316?5317. DOI: 10.1021/ja060242k

ACKNOWLEDGMENT This research was supported by the Industrial Technologies Program of the U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), under Contract DE-AC05-0096OR22725 with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC.