Carbon nanoparticles production using solvent assisted hydrothermal carbonization

Abstract

In this study, carbon nanoparticles (CNP) have been synthetized by the method of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), which entails low cost, minimum equipment requirement, and less synthesis time. In order to improve the characteristics and the mass yield of CNP, a variation in the HTC process has been developed; which consists in introducing a blend of organic solvent with water into the reactor, instead of only water. The precursor is the glucose and three organic solvents were tested: hexane, toluene, and butyl acetate at different reaction times: 1, 2 and 4 h. The size distribution of the CNP doesn't depend on the synthesis conditions. But, the mass yields of the CNP has an incredibly increase with the variation of process, this phenomenon is observed with all organic solvents at only 1 h of reaction time. With butyl acetate the highest degree of dehydration was achieved according to the Ven Krevelen diagram and the FT-IR spectra. Besides, with this organic solvent, the highest Photoluminescence Quantum Yield was reached.