Naturally inspired nitrogen doped porous carbon

Abstract

Prawn shells, an abundant marine chitin (poly-β(1→4)-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine) biomass source and high volume food waste, have successfully been converted into nitrogen doped carbon (>5% N) in a simple three step sustainable manner to yield a highly textured, high surface area (S_BET > 300 m²g⁻¹) and high pore volume (V_pore > 0.6 cm³g⁻¹) material. The preformed natural inorganic (CaCO₃)/organic (chitin) shell composite provides the precursor structure, which is simply converted via hydrothermal carbonisation to yield nitrogen rich carbon material templated by the mineral scaffold. The resulting carbonaceous composite may be purified of the inorganic component by washing with acetic acid, leading to enhanced mesoporous properties. This approach renders materials with interesting nanoscale morphology and an accessible interconnected pore structure (pore diameter > 10 nm), presenting desirable characteristics directly applicable in future technological applications, including biosensors, batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors.