Morphological features of aerogels and carbogels based on lignosulfonates

Abstract

Abstract The synthesis of new carbogels based on sodium lignosulfonates alone (LSNa) and interpolyelectrolyte complexes (IPEC) made by a combination of lignosulfonate and chitosan (CT) (i.e. IPEC-LSNa-CT) was investigated. The IPECs were converted into carbogels by slow and rapid pyrolysis (Pyslow and Pyrapid) and the influence of Py conditions on the formation of carbogels was established. It is demonstrated that the obtained carbogels have a high microporous structure with elevated total porosity values. The porosity of synthesised carbogels is on the nanoscale level, while about 80% of the internal surfaces obtained by both Pyslow and Pyfast is in the range of 0.7–1.0 nm pore size. It was found that elements of the initial precursor structure (LSNa) are stored in the carbon aerogels, if obtained by the appropriate pyrolysis technique.