Activation/Self-activation Construction, Material Optimization Strategies and Adsorption/Electroadsorption Applications for Organic Salt-Derived Porous Carbons

Abstract

Nowadays, with the accelerated industrialization advancement, substantial pollutants are being released into nature, inducing severe hazards to ecosystems and human health. While porous carbons (PCs) hold overt promise for environmental remediation, their synthesis is enormously constrained by high prices, severe equipment corrosion and evident environmental risks. Herein, this review overviews emerging organic salt-derived PCs (OAPCs), aiming at exploring advanced green PCs. Initially, their multifunctional roles as activators and self-activators are underlined. Whereafter, a multifold range of K, Na, Zn, Mg and Ca-based organic salts is systematically expounded, with a focus on the diverse decomposition routes and activation mechanisms. More importantly, multiple material optimization strategies, involving regulation morphology design, hierarchical porous structure establishment, heteroatom doping engineering, vacancy defect engineering and self-supporting structure design, have been successively proposed, which intend to maximize surface accessibility, electronic conductivity and matter migration-diffusion-adsorption ability. Ultimately, the potential adsorption and electroadsorption applications of OAPCs are further estimated, aiming at realizing the effective organic pollutant removal, heavy metal ion capture, seawater desalination and resource recovery.In summary, this review seeks to design high-performance green OAPCs and provide meaningful perspectives for their in-depth investigation in effective pollutant capture or resource recycling.