Lightweight and Superelastic Wood Carbon Sponges Enabled by Wood Cell Wall Reconfiguration
Abstract
Abstract Elastic wood carbon sponges have gained increasing momentum due to their combination of compressive elasticity, wood orientation structure, and carbon nature. However, the pursuit of lightweight and superelasticity in these sponges remains a significant challenge, as their boundaries are constrained by the solidified wood cell walls. Here, an innovative “stripping‐expansion‐carbonization” strategy is proposed for producing wood carbon sponges with low density and superelasticity via breaking the spatial confinement of the original cell wall. This strategy integrates the removal of non‐skeletal components from cell wall, the formation of bubble‐assisted lamellar structure, and a high‐temperature carbonization process. The resultant expanded wood carbon sponges (EWCS) demonstrate a low density of 14.18 ± 1.07 mg cm −3 , temperature‐insensitive superelasticity, and reliable cycling stability. Additionally, the incorporation of the lightweight, electrical conductivity, and superelasticity nature endows EWCS with remarkable versatility, enabling applications such as pressure sensor for monitoring human movement, tunable electromagnetic interference shielding, and efficient and recyclable oil‐water separation. This strategy realizes the layer‐wise reconfiguration of the solid wood cell structure, providing a new design route for engineering wood carbon sponges.
Article Details
Authors (9)
Tong Ji
Key Laboratory of Optic‐electric Sensing and Analytical Chemistry for Life Science MOE College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering State Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Polymer and Manufacturing Technology Qingdao University of Science and Technology Qingdao 266042 P.R. China
Hao Sun
Boyu Cui
1State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Blood Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China
Wenxiang Zhai
Key Laboratory of Bio‐Based Material Science and Technology Ministry of Education Material Science and Engineering College Northeast Forestry University Harbin 150040 China
Zechun Ren
Key Laboratory of Bio‐Based Material Science and Technology Ministry of Education Material Science and Engineering College Northeast Forestry University Harbin 150040 China
Kejiao Ding
Key Laboratory of Bio‐Based Material Science and Technology Ministry of Education Material Science and Engineering College Northeast Forestry University Harbin 150040 China
Tongfei Gu
Key Laboratory of Bio‐Based Material Science and Technology Ministry of Education Material Science and Engineering College Northeast Forestry University Harbin 150040 China
Feng Jiang
State Key Laboratory of Integrated Optoelectronics, JLU Region, College of Electronic Science and Engineering, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, Changchun 130012, P. R. China
Min Xu