The synthesis of functional carbonaceous materials, such as carbon nanotubes and fullerenes, is currently a hot topic due to their potential importance in gas storage, catalyst supports, carbon fuel cells and drug delivery uses. Traditionally these carbon-based functional materials are produced from fossil fuel starting materials but biomass could provide a cheap, renewable and 'green' alternative in the future. Thus, the use of biomass as a starting material for the synthesis of carbon-based functional materials is under investigation.

Biomass conversion using hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) has great potential for making these materials due to its high carbon efficiency under environmentally friendly and relatively mild conditions, using water as a solvent. The process involves the heating of biomass compounds, such as sugar beet chips, pine cones and oak leaves, in an autoclave for approx. 16 hours to produce various types of functional carbon materials. 

In their Dalton Transactions Perspective, Shu-Hong Yu and colleagues, from Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, China, discuss recent advances in the synthesis of functional carbon materials from biomass using the HTC process. They also investigate applications of the resulting carbonaceous materials in environmental, catalytic and electrical areas.

'Further exploration in these areas will facilitate the rational design of a variety of functional carbonaceous materials when we gradually uncover the mysterious veil of mechanism behind the HTC reaction,' says Yu.