Dr Jae-Hun Yang

© 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH Nanoporous carbon materials have been widely utilized for myriad applications owing to their intriguing physicochemical properties. Development of green and clean synthetic techniques/procedures to generate nanoporous carbon materials especially derived from inexpensive waste precursors/resources has rejuvenated the chemistry of carbon materials owing to the abundant nature and low cost of these sources and their ability to generate unique surface/porous structures. These nanoporous carbon materials have been heavily explored in multiple sectors such as soil/water remediation, adsorption and separation, catalysis, energy storage/conversion, capture and conversion of carbon dioxide. In this topical review, the recent state-of-the-art research progress achieved in the design and development of waste-derived advanced functionalized porous carbon materials are summarized. The various lab-specific approaches and methodologies involved in synthesizing these materials are discussed in detail. In addition, the potential applications of waste-derived functionalized porous carbons in the fields of environment, energy storage, and conversion applications are highlighted. Finally, a discussion on a few suggestions for future research is concluded. It is believed that this review provide inspiration for many new research activities over a wide range of disciplines.

© 2020 Elsevier B.V. In this report, we demonstrate on the preparation of mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (gCN) with 3D porous structure using dicyandiamide as a CN precursor and KIT-6 as a template via hard-template replication method and its superior photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity under simulated sunlight. The powder X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) results reveal that the prepared materials possess gCN crystal structure with ordered mesopores and a 3D porous structure and a high specific surface area (221 m2/g). UV¿Vis and PL spectra show that the absorption edges of mesoporous gCNs are slightly blue-shifted and the PL intensity is remarkably suppressed. The photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity of gCN-KIT-6 under solar simulated irradiation is 1.92 mmol·g-1 h-1 which is much higher than that of gCN with 2D mesoporous structure, gCN from silica nanoparticle and bulk nonporous gCN. This high photocatalytic activity of gCN-KIT-6 can be attributed to 3D structure and the retarded electron-hole recombination.

Toluene is an aromatic pollutant that can be widely found in many industries. Due to its toxicity, its total decomposition has been investigated by many researchers using various ways. One alternative way is the usage of catalyst and light to decompose toluene. However, so far, it is still remained as a challenge. On the other hand, the need to use cheap, abundant, and safe sources to prevent our sustainability makes the utilization of solar energy one of the ideal solutions for our problems. As visible light is the main part of our solar energy, the development of photocatalysts that able to work under visible light irradiation is highly required. One of the efforts to realize it is by designing materials that able to absorb visible light especially that of longer wavelength, such as up to 600 nm. A red color-material, Tantalum (V) nitride (Ta3N5) is one such potential photocatalyst. Its photocatalytic activity was discovered for water splitting reaction under visible light irradiation [1]. Recent progress reported that Ta 3N5 nanoparticles showed higher activity than the bulk Ta3N5 for hydrogen evolution [2] and methylene blue degradation [3]. ©2010 IEEE.