Thermal behavior of chitosan as a carbon material precursor under IR radiation

Abstract

An effective accelerated synthesis procedure of a carbon material based on chitosan via infrared pyrolysis was developed. Infrared radiation heating allows to shorten preparation time significantly. It takes only 2 min of the residence time at 800 °C for complete carbonization of the polymer. The chemical transformations in chitosan during infrared pyrolysis depended on temperature were studied. The formation of C=C-C=N and C=C-C=C conjugated bonds at a lowerature stage of the carbonization process was demonstrated. It was revealed that the main product of the chitosan pyrolysis at 600-800 °C represents a graphite-like carbon material in the form of carbocyclic structures.