Carbon gels derived from natural resources

Most carbon gels investigated so far and reportedin the literature were prepared from resorcinolcrosslinked with formaldehyde in water, and weregenerally dried with supercritical CO2 before beingpyrolysed. In the present paper, through someselected examples, we show how valuable carbongels can be derived from other phenolic resourceshaving a natural origin. Special emphasis is givento tannin and lignin, both derived from wood, aspotential precursors of carbon aero- and cryogels.However, natural compounds not obeying the usualconcepts of sol-gel chemistry may also be used forpreparing carbon gels, such as cellulose, and evenglucose. In the latter case, hydrothermal treatmentforces the phase separation to occur, and leads tomonoliths which can be advantageously convertedinto carbon aerogels by supercritical drying andsubsequent pyrolysis.