Production of porous carbons from resorcinol-formaldehyde gels: Applications

L.H. TAMBORINI; M.P. MILITELLO; C.A. BARBERO; D.F. ACEVEDO

Handbook of Composites from Renewable Materials

Wiley

Año: 2016;

The resorcinol formaldehyde gels have been exhaustively study during more than 30 years. The carbonization of these polymers generates carbon porous materials. Porous carbon materials have a wide use in many fields, which highlights its potential for technological applications such as active material for the storage of energy in supercapacitors and support for catalysts in biodiesel. In this chapter, we discuss the fabrication of these materials by pyrolysis of porous resorcinol-formaldehyde gels. The work describes the synthesis and the major parameters that determine the porosity in these materials. Moreover, the applications of these porous materials are depicted: the chemical modification of the surface with sulphonic groups to generate renewable catalysts for biodiesel production and the use of the carbon as supercapacitors.