Production of Lignin-Derived Functional Material for Efficient Electromagnetic Wave Absorption with an Ultralow Filler Ratio

Abstract

Industrial lignin, a by-product of pulping for papermaking fibers or of second-generation ethanol production, is primarily served as a low-grade combustible energy source. The fabrication of high-value-added functional materials with industrial lignin is still a challenge. Herein, a three-dimensional hierarchical lignin-derived porous carbon (HLPC) was prepared with lignosulfonate as the carbon source and MgCO3 as the template. The uniform mixing of precursor and template agent resulted in the construction of a three-dimensional hierarchical porous structure. HLPC presented excellent electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption performance. With a low filler content of 7 wt%, HLPC showed a minimum reflection loss (RL) value of −41.8 dB (1.7 mm, 13.8 GHz), and a maximum effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 4.53 GHz (1.6 mm). In addition, the enhancement mechanism of HLPC for EMW absorption was also explored through comparing the morphology and electromagnetic parameters of lignin-derived carbon (LC) and lignin-derived porous carbon (LPC). The three-dimensional hierarchical porous structure endowed the carbon with a high pore volume, resulting in an abundant gas–solid interface between air and carbon for interfacial polarization. This structure also provided conductive networks for conduction loss. This work offers a strategy to synthesize biomass-based carbon for high-performance EMW absorption.