"Coal-based materials attending the energetic problems"

 

 

 

 

Wrocław University of Technology (TUWRO)

 

Wrocław University of Technology belongs to the best technical universities in Poland, which was founded in 1945. Currently the University provides education in 24 fields for more than 34 000 students in almost 50 Bachelor, Master, and PhD programs.

 

Faculty of Chemistry one of the largest and also the oldest technical university faculties in Poland. Five specializations are offered by the Faculty: Biotechnology, Chemistry, Chemical engineering, Chemical technology and Engineering of materials. Nowadays over 3000 students attend the courses in our Faculty.

 

Coal and Carbon Materials Group is a part of the Department of Polymer and Carbonaceous Materials at the Faculty of Chemistry. The group consists of 3 professors, including 1 professor emeritus, 5 doctors, 5 PhD students, and 10-15 MSc students.

 

General scope of research

 

     - Effective and environmentally safe use of coals, biomass and their derivatives for energy, chemicals and carbon materials production.

     - Synthesis and characterization of advanced carbon materials and nanomaterials, and related composites for application in environmental control, catalysis and energy storage .

 

Specific research topics

 

      - Preparation of porous carbon materials of desired morphology, porous texture and surface properties from common precursors: coals, pitches, biomass, polymers.

      - Synthesis of carbon nanofibers/nanotubes using catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD).

      - Synthesis of graphite-based graphene materials by chemical and thermal methods.

     - Evaluation of properties for application in water treatment, gas separation and storage (CH4, CO2, H2), as electrode in  supercapacitor and lithium-ion battery, and catalyst support.

      - Biomass and plastic waste pyrolysis; upgrading of resultant liquids and solids.

 

The contribution of TUWRO in the SUPERCOAL project is related to WP3. Synthesis and characterization of activated carbons (ACs) and WP6. Energy storage system: supercapacitors (SCs) and hybrid systems.

In particular, the TUWRO tasks are as follows:

·     - Modification of the surface chemistry of coal-derived liquid-based ACs by incorporating oxygen and nitrogen functional groups in the carbon (WP3).

·     - Evaluation of the obtained ACs, graphenes and their composites as positive and negative electrodes in supercapacitor operating in an aqueous electrolyte (WP6).

·     - Elaboration of high performance electrochemical capacitor with asymmetric electrode configuration using selected materials as active electrodes (WP6).

 

 

This project is financially supported by the European Union within the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) programme (Grant Agreement No. RFCR-CT-2015-00006).