Production of Highly Porous Carbon Materials from Coastal Driftwood

To promote the value-added circular utilization of coastal driftwood, a single salt-exposed driftwood specimen was thermally converted into porous carbon materials by slow pyrolysis. Highly porous carbons are attractive for applications such as adsorption and catalyst support because accessible micro- and mesopores provide a large interfacial area. Prior to carbonization, the thermochemical characteristics of the driftwood were evaluated by proximate analysis, elemental analysis, calorific-value determination, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Pyrolysis was conducted at 400, 500, 600, 700, and 800 °C with residence times of 0, 30, and 60 min at a heating rate of 10 °C/min. The crude biochar products were subsequently washed with reverse-osmosis water. Carbonization temperature was the principal process variable governing pore development. The condition producing the maximum measured porosity was 800 °C with a 60 min residence time, for which the crude biochar yield was 22.98 wt%. The instrument-reported BET surface area and total pore volume of DW-800-60 were 777.5 m²/g and 0.47 cm³/g, respectively. Re-evaluation of the same N₂ isotherm using the Rouquerol consistency criteria gave a physically consistent BET estimate of approximately 944.0 m²/g over P/P₀ = 0.0051-0.0597. Gas adsorption indicated a predominantly microporous structure with an additional mesoporous contribution, whereas the scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed inherited micrometer-scale wood channels. DW-800-60 contained 87.6 wt% carbon. Because the botanical species and mineral-salt composition were not identified and practical adsorption or catalytic performance were not tested, the results should be regarded as specific to the investigated specimen and as a basis for future application-oriented evaluation.