Carbon foam production from lignocellulosic biomass via high pressure pyrolysis

Carbon foams are a diverse class of materials with general characteristics of high carbon content and monolithic, porous structure. Carbon foams possess low density, high temperature tolerance and tailorable electrical and thermal conductivities. These properties make carbon foams useful for a variety of applications such as insulation, battery and fuel cell electrodes, and catalyst supports. This study presents carbon foam production from lignocellulosic biomass via a single-step high-pressure pyrolysis method. Detailed parametric testing was performed to identify operational parameters for the pyrolysis process to produce high quality foams from corn stover. The applicability of the methods to other lignocellulosic feedstocks was then demonstrated by production of carbon foams from pine wood and miscanthus grass. Additionally, mechanistic insights into carbon foam production under high pressure pyrolysis conditions were attained through monitoring of feedstock temperature during pyrolysis and evaluation of carbon foam production from major lignocellulose constituents: hemicellulose (xylan), cellulose, and lignin.