Intrinsic activation: The relationship between biomass inorganic content and porosity formation during pyrolysis

The utility of pyrolytic carbons is closely related to their porosity and surface area, there is a clear benefit to the development of biomass pyrolysis processes which produce highly porous carbons. The results presented in this work demonstrate that by using biomass precursors with high inorganic content along with specified process conditions, carbons can be consistently produced with specific surface areas between 900 and 1600 m2/g. Results from 12 different source materials show that the formation of increased porosity in pyrolytic carbons is strongly associated with the presence of inorganic elements in the precursors including: magnesium, potassium and sulfur. It was found that pyrolysis of macro-algae can produce especially high specific surface area carbons (mean: 1500 m2/g), without externally applied activating agents. Using cheap readily available agricultural residues such as oilseed rape straw, pyrolytic carbons can be produced with specific surface areas of around 950 m2/g.