Hydrolytic Lignin: It’s Activated and Fluorinated Forms

The hydrolytic lignin (HL) derivatives have been prepared via its physical activation (high-temperature annealing in vacuum) followed by chemical modification (fluorination). It was found that the graphitized product of thermal activation up to 1000 °C at a low temperature gain rate of < 2 °C/min under high vacuum shows an enhanced specific surface area (215 m 2 /g), that makes it potentially useful as sorbent, catalytic substrate, or electrode material. It was revealed from the experimental data the manufactured graphitized material consists of nanometric structural blocks, possibly nanographites and/or few-layer nanographenes. The edges of graphenes in agglomerates in activated hydrolytic lignin (AHL) have armchair and zigzag shapes. The nontrivial electronic structure of the zigzag edges, along with the electronic conductivity and the ability of AHL to absorb oxygen, can cause an increase in the energy intensity of lithium battery (LB) manufactured using AHL.The carbon-fluorine bond of semi-ionic type was detected in HL and AHL fluorinated in the temperature range of synthesize 60 – 300 oC. The fluorinated forms of both HL and its thermally activated product show increased values of operating voltage due to the participation of fluorine bound to carbon in the electrochemical process.