Structured carbon materials for application as catalysts and sorbents for improved energy production

Carbon materials are known to have many attractive properties such as chemical inertness, good thermal stability, and high surface area. Different forms of carbon, including traditional carbons such as activated carbon, graphite, carbon black as well as new structures such as carbon nanotubes/nanofibers, fullerenes, porous carbons, and their composite materials, have stimulated wide research interests for novel applications. Carbon based materials in these forms have been used for catalyst supports and adsorbents and have been successful in improving overall process efficiency for which they are applied. Applications of these materials in areas related specifically to the conversion and storage of energy have been recently reported. Novel structured carbon materials, such as hierarchical carbons, display many of the attractive properties of traditional carbons are yet to find broad application. In view of the wide range of uses for carbon materials, this chapter will discuss how structured carbon materials could play a role in improving the process efficiency of energy-related processes. This chapter reviews the latest developments in novel structured carbon materials, and the critical linkages between their structure and physiochemical properties for applications such as gas storage and catalysis. The synthesis techniques used to produce these carbon materials will also be discussed. The latest work performed in the author’s laboratory in this area is reported. Considering the significant number of excellent reviews available in the literature on different forms of carbon in the past few decades, the current chapter will concentrate on reviewing the research conducted in the last 5 years for application of carbon materials as catalysts and sorbents in improved energy production. Opportunities for future research on carbon materials in the energy domain will also be identified