Synthesis and optimization of chitosan supported magnetic carbon bio-nanocomposites and bio-oil production by solvothermal carbonization co-precipitation for advanced energy applications

Synthesis of hybrid nanomaterials in the lab-scale frequently involves complex processing and often is not able to be adopted in the industry without major enhancements for its commercial production. This research is focused on a convenient route for the fabrication of chitosan-supported magnetically recoverable carbon bio-nanocomposites by functionalizing magnetic nanoparticles on chitosan and renewable carbon material using solvothermal carbonization co-precipitation (STCC). This process can be adopted in large-scale synthesis with minimum enhancements. The nanocomposites produced using STCC offered excellent features including porous and ultrafine nanostructure, stable mechanical, and chemical properties. From the analysis of variance (ANOVA), the temperature has been found to be the most influential factor for both magnetic nanocomposite and bio-oil yield. The highest porosity for nanocomposites was observed with water-based synthesis at 260 °C at 194.62 m2/g. However, water/ethanol (50:50) at 260 °C yielded 6.67% and 8.01% more bio-oil and having 5.35% and 3.49% higher heating value as compared to that of bio-oil produced using water and ethanol.