Controllable fabrication of a tannin-lignin-phenolic carbon foam with excellent smoke suppression and preferable mechanical properties

Abstract

With the depletion of petroleum resources, biomass has been widely applied as an alternative to petroleum-based feedstocks. In this work, a lightweight tannin-lignin-phenolic carbon foam (TLCF_5−ME) with excellent smoke suppression was developed. The foam precursor was prepared by substituting 30 wt% of phenol with modified lignin, and tannin was used as a framework filler to reinforce the samples. The effects of lignin, tannin type, including myrica extract (ME), wattle extract (WE), and tannic acid (TA), and addition amount of tannin on the mechanical behavior and smoke suppression of carbon foam were determined, and the mechanism was illustrated. Surprisingly, it was found that the total smoke release of TLCF_5−ME was only 0.39 m²/m², which was 97.62% lower than that of pure phenolic carbon foam (CF), and the compressive strength of TLCF_5−ME was 0.32 MPa, which was 33.33% higher than that of CF. In summary, adding modified lignin and ME not only reduced the use of phenol, but also increased the number of aromatic rings and improved the graphitization degree of carbon foam, thereby promoting the formation of compact char layers under combustion, and further effectively inhibiting the smoke production of samples.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

Lignin / Tannin / Carbon foam / Smoke suppression / Flame retardant

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