Hierarchical Porous and High Surface Area Tubular Carbon as Dye Adsorbent and Capacitor Electrode

Hierarchically porous tubular carbon (HPTC) with large surface area of 1094 m²/g has been successfully synthesized by selectively removing lignin from natural wood. No templates or chemicals are involved during the process. By further KOH activation, surface area of activated HPTC reaches up to 2925 m²/g. These materials show unprecedented high adsorption capacity toward organic dyes (methylene blue, 838 mg/g; methyl orange, 264 mg/g) and large electrochemical capacitance of >200 F/g. The sustainable feature of the wood precursor and demonstrated superior adsorption and energy storage properties allow promising applications of the processed materials in energy and environmental related fields.