Hydrothermal carbonization converts organics in aqueous suspension to a mixture of liquid components and carbon-rich solids (hydrochars), which in turn can be processed into activated carbons. We investigated whether milk could be used as a medium for hydrothermal carbonization, and found that hydrochars prepared from milk, with or without an added fibrous biomass, contained more carbon (particularly aliphatic carbon), less oxygen, and more mineral components than those prepared from fibrous biomass in water. Activated carbons produced from hydrochars generated in milk had lower specific surface areas and CO2 capacities than those from hydrochars formed in water; however, these differences disappeared upon normalizing to the combustible mass of the solid. Thus, in the context of N-2 and CO2 uptake on activated carbons, the primary effect of using milk rather than water to form the hydrochar precursor was to contribute inorganic mass that adsorbed little CO2. Nevertheless, some of the activated carbons generated from hydrochars formed in milk had specific CO2 uptake capacities in the normal range for activated carbons prepared by activation in CO2 (here, up to 1.6 mmol g(-1) CO2 at 15 kPa and 0 degrees C). Thus, hydrothermal carbonization could be used to convert waste milk to hydrochars and activated carbons.

The influence of the hydrothermal conditions used for preparing precursors was studied with respect to the properties of the resulting KOH-activated carbons (KOH-ACs). The influence of the hydrothermal temperature (180 vs. 240 degrees C) was only minor on the textural properties of the KOH-ACs. However, the hydrothermal conditions did affect the electrical conductivity of the KOH-ACs. A higher conductivity was observed for the ACs prepared from precursors at the higher temperature and shorter reaction time. This study highlights an overlooked relationship in-between the degree of condensation in the precursors prepared from hydrothermal carbonization and the electrical conductivity of the corresponding ACs.

Activated carbons (ACs) are actively researched as electrode materials for supercapacitors and there is a significant interest to produce ACs from sustainable and low cost precursors. In this study, various ACs were prepared from hydrothermally carbonized sugars by KOH activation. Both the hydrothermal carbonization and activation processes were optimized to tailor the properties (e.g. textural properties, chemical composition, N-doping, electrical conductivity) of the ACs. For instance, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas (S-BET) were tuned in the range of 800-3000 m(2) g(-1) with associated variation in the extent of microporosity and pore size distributions (PSDs). The ACs were evaluated electrochemically as materials for supercapacitor electrodes in a symmetrical two-electrode cell using an aqueous electrolyte. The relationship between the electrochemical, textural, electrical, and physicochemical properties were analyzed systematically to understand the key factors determining the electrochemical performance. A high specific capacitance (C-m) of similar to 260 F g(-1) was achieved at a moderately high S-BET of similar to 1300 m(2) g(-1), which was equivalent to a C-m/S-BET of 20 mu F cm(-2), for an optimal AC prepared from hydrothermally carbonized glucose. The very high surface-specific capacitance highlights that the specific surface area is certainly not the sole limiting parameter for effective electrode materials.