Effects of Heat Treatment on the Physicochemical Properties and Electrochemical Behavior of Biochars for Electrocatalyst Support Applications
Open accessAbstract
The present work reports the synthesis and the physicochemical characterization of biochar from the organic wastes of nopal (Opuntia Leucotricha), coffee grounds (Coffea arabica) and Ataulfo mango seeds (Mangifera indica) as alternative electrocatalyst supports to Vulcan XC-72 carbon black. The biochars were prepared using pyrolysis from organic wastes collected at three temperatures, 600, 750 and 900 °C, under two atmospheres, N2 and H2. The synthesized biochars were characterized using Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to obtain insights into their chemical structure and morphological nature, respectively, as a function of temperature and pyrolysis atmosphere. A N2 adsorption/desorption technique, two-point conductivity measurements and cyclic voltammetry (CV) were conducted to evaluate the specific surface area (SSA), electrical conductivity and double-layer capacitance, respectively, of all the biochars to estimate their physical properties as a possible alternative carbon support. The results indicated that the mango biochar demonstrated the highest properties among all the biochars, such as an electrical conductivity of 8.3 S/cm−1 at 900 °C in N2, a specific surface area of 829 m2/g at 600 °C in H2 and a capacitance of ~300 mF/g at 900 °C in N2. The nopal and coffee biochars exhibited excellent specific surface areas, up to 767 m2/g at 600 °C in N2 and 699 m2/g at 750 °C in H2, respectively; nonetheless, their electrical conductivity and capacitance were limited. Therefore, the mango biochar at 900 °C in N2 was considered a suitable alternative carbon material for electrocatalyst support. Additionally, it was possible to determine that the electrical conductivity and capacitance increased as a function of the pyrolysis temperature, while the specific surface area decreased for some biochars as the pyrolysis temperature increased. Overall, it is possible to conclude that heat treatment at a high temperature of 900 °C enhanced the biochar properties toward electrocatalyst support applications.
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Metal salts are often impregnated into the biochar matrix through this thermal method to improve performance for applications like adsorption.
“The metal salts are often impregnated into the biochar matrix through this thermal method to improve performance for applications like adsorption56.”
From Metals incorporated agricultural waste corn Cob-based biochar used as an adsorbent for CO2 capturing (2025) · cites this paper as [56]
The Introduction (page unavailable) says pyrolysis can tune biochar properties and that biochar can be used to adsorb contaminants. But neither it nor the other passages found by searching for metal salts, impregnation, and adsorption says that metal salts are often impregnated through heat treatment to improve adsorption performance. (LLM, conf=0.77)
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
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Metals incorporated agricultural waste corn Cob-based biochar used as an adsorbent for CO2 capturing
Ahmed, S., Hossain, D., Dipti, S. S., Karim, M. A., & Azad, M. A. K. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-31699-3 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“The metal salts are often impregnated into the biochar matrix through this thermal method to improve performance for applications like adsorption 56 .”
- Authors
- García-Rocha, R., Durón-Torres, S. M., Palomares-Sánchez, S. A., Del Rio-De Santiago, A., Rojas-de Soto, I., & Escalante-García, I. L.
- Affiliations
- Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí (MX)
- Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas "Francisco García Salinas" (MX)
- Unidad Académica de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Ramón López Velarde 801, Zacatecas 98000, Mexico
- Unidad Académica de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Campus Siglo XXI, Ed. 6, km. 6 Carr. Zacatecas-Guadalajara, Zacatecas 98160, Mexico
- ORCID
- Venue
- Materials
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2023-08-10
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 16
- Pages
- 5571
- ISSN
- 1996-1944 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10456742
- OpenAlex
- W4385737507
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 7
- FWCI
- 0.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Materials (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
- Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí
- Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Processes
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials › Supercapacitor Materials and Fabrication
- Keywords
- biochar, electrocatalyst support, pyrolysis temperature, pyrolysis atmosphere, nopal, coffee grounds, mango seed, organic waste valorization, electrical conductivity, specific surface area, double-layer capacitance
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