{"title":"Biochar-based electroanalytical materials: Towards sustainable, high-performance electrocatalysts and sensors","authors":"Suprity Shyam , Minisrang Daimary , Mahesh Narayan , Hemen Sarma","doi":"10.1016/j.nxmate.2025.100873","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biochar-derived materials have emerged as sustainable and high-performance components in electroanalytical devices, owing to their large surface area, hierarchical porosity, chemical robustness, and renewability. This review highlights recent progress in employing biochar as both an electrocatalyst and electrode material, showcasing its superiority over traditional carbon-based alternatives in diverse applications such as energy storage, environmental monitoring, and electrochemical sensing. The intrinsic electrochemical properties of biochar-such as enhanced ion diffusion, redox kinetics, and charge storage-render it a promising candidate for use in supercapacitors, batteries, and fuel cells. However, native biochar often suffers from limited selectivity and moderate electrocatalytic activity. To address these limitations, researchers have increasingly modified biochar through functionalization and incorporation of advanced materials such as metal nanoparticles, conductive polymers, and transition metal oxides, significantly boosting its conductivity, analyte specificity, and overall electrochemical performance. Noteworthy advancements include N-doped biochar from pomelo peel exhibiting a specific capacitance of 391 F g⁻¹ and tri-modal porous carbon from shaddock endothelium reaching 550 F g⁻¹ with energy densities up to 46.88 Wh kg⁻¹. Biochar-based sensors have achieved ultra-low detection limits-for instance, 2 nM for bioactive molecules and 4.5 nM for heavy metal ions-while also demonstrating capabilities for multi-analyte pollutant detection and nitrate removal from groundwater. Additionally, biochar has shown high CO₂ adsorption capacities, outperforming commercial sorbents. The emergence of hybrid biochar composites and flexible, wearable devices marks a new direction in sustainable electrochemical technology. Overall, biochar is poised to play a transformative role in the development of next-generation electrocatalysts and sensors for green and scalable energy and environmental applications.</div></div><div><h3>Synopsis</h3><div>Biochar is a promising material for energy conversion, storage, and for the development of sustainable catalysts with potential for commercialization and in green energy systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100958,"journal":{"name":"Next Materials","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100873"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Next Materials","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949822825003910","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Biochar-derived materials have emerged as sustainable and high-performance components in electroanalytical devices, owing to their large surface area, hierarchical porosity, chemical robustness, and renewability. This review highlights recent progress in employing biochar as both an electrocatalyst and electrode material, showcasing its superiority over traditional carbon-based alternatives in diverse applications such as energy storage, environmental monitoring, and electrochemical sensing. The intrinsic electrochemical properties of biochar-such as enhanced ion diffusion, redox kinetics, and charge storage-render it a promising candidate for use in supercapacitors, batteries, and fuel cells. However, native biochar often suffers from limited selectivity and moderate electrocatalytic activity. To address these limitations, researchers have increasingly modified biochar through functionalization and incorporation of advanced materials such as metal nanoparticles, conductive polymers, and transition metal oxides, significantly boosting its conductivity, analyte specificity, and overall electrochemical performance. Noteworthy advancements include N-doped biochar from pomelo peel exhibiting a specific capacitance of 391 F g⁻¹ and tri-modal porous carbon from shaddock endothelium reaching 550 F g⁻¹ with energy densities up to 46.88 Wh kg⁻¹. Biochar-based sensors have achieved ultra-low detection limits-for instance, 2 nM for bioactive molecules and 4.5 nM for heavy metal ions-while also demonstrating capabilities for multi-analyte pollutant detection and nitrate removal from groundwater. Additionally, biochar has shown high CO₂ adsorption capacities, outperforming commercial sorbents. The emergence of hybrid biochar composites and flexible, wearable devices marks a new direction in sustainable electrochemical technology. Overall, biochar is poised to play a transformative role in the development of next-generation electrocatalysts and sensors for green and scalable energy and environmental applications.
Synopsis
Biochar is a promising material for energy conversion, storage, and for the development of sustainable catalysts with potential for commercialization and in green energy systems.
生物炭衍生材料由于其大表面积、分层孔隙度、化学稳定性和可再生性,已成为电分析设备中可持续和高性能的组件。本文综述了生物炭作为电催化剂和电极材料的最新进展,展示了其在储能、环境监测和电化学传感等多种应用中优于传统碳基替代品的优势。生物炭固有的电化学特性,如增强的离子扩散、氧化还原动力学和电荷存储,使其成为超级电容器、电池和燃料电池的有希望的候选者。然而,天然生物炭的选择性有限,电催化活性适中。为了解决这些限制,研究人员越来越多地通过功能化和加入金属纳米颗粒、导电聚合物和过渡金属氧化物等先进材料来修饰生物炭,从而显著提高其导电性、分析物特异性和整体电化学性能。值得注意的进展包括柚子皮中掺n的生物炭,其比电容为391 F g⁻¹,柚子内皮中的三模态多孔碳达到550 F g⁻¹,能量密度高达46.88 Wh kg⁻¹。基于生物炭的传感器已经实现了超低的检测极限——例如,2 纳米的生物活性分子和4.5 纳米的重金属离子——同时也展示了多分析物污染物检测和地下水硝酸盐去除的能力。此外,生物炭表现出较高的CO 2吸附能力,优于商业吸附剂。混合生物炭复合材料和柔性可穿戴设备的出现标志着可持续电化学技术的新方向。总的来说,生物炭将在下一代电催化剂和传感器的发展中发挥变革性作用,用于绿色和可扩展的能源和环境应用。生物炭是一种很有前途的材料,用于能量转换、储存和可持续催化剂的开发,具有商业化和绿色能源系统的潜力。