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Synthesis and Characterisation of Carbon-Based Materials

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Carbon Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2026 | Viewed by 387

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
National Institute of Materials Physics, Atomistilor 405A, 077125 Magurele, Ilfov, Romania
Interests: continuous hydrothermal flow synthesis; carbon materials; synthetic chemistry and MXene

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Institute of Materials Physics, Atomistilor 405A, 077125 Magurele, Ilfov, Romania
Interests: hydrothermal carbonisation; carbon materials; materials science; CO2 Adsorption
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Carbon based materials represent one of the most popular classes of materials, often mentioned across multiple fields of research and technology. Their diversity, ranging from 0D fullerenes and carbon quantum dots to 1D carbon nanotubes, 2D graphene, and 3D porous carbons, offers them essential physical and chemical properties, such as high electrical and thermal conductivity, large specific surface area, tunable porosity, and great chemical and thermal stability. Based on these outstanding characteristics, carbon-based materials have been included in various applications, for example, energy storage (in batteries and supercapacitors), gas capture and separation, catalysis and electrocatalysis, water treatment and purification. This Special Issue will focus on the ongoing research into the synthesis and functionalization of carbon-based materials, as well as their characterization, aiming to offer new strategies and additional insights for the development of advanced carbon materials for energy and environmental applications.

The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

  • Synthesis of Carbon-based Materials via:
    • Continuous Hydrothermal Flow Synthesis (CHFS);
    • Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC);
    • Pyrolysis (Thermal decomposition);
    • Template-Assisted Methods (hard/soft template);
    • Biomass-derived Carbon (physical/chemical activation);
    • Arc Discharge Method;
    • Laser Ablation ;
    • Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD);
    • Sol–Gel Method;
    • Plasma-Assisted Methods.
  • Structural Characterization (XRD, Raman Spectroscopy, FTIR);
  • Morphological Characterization (SEM, TEM, AFM);
  • Surface Area and Porosity;
  • Chemical Composition and Elemental Analysis (XPS, EDS/EDX, CHN/O);
  • Optical Properties (UV-VIS, PL Spectroscopy);
  • Thermal Properties (TGA, DSC);
  • Electrical Properties (4-point probe, CV, EIS).

Dr. Ioan Alexandru Baragau
Dr. Sabina Alexandra Nicolae
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • carbon quantum dots
  • carbon nanotubes
  • porous carbon
  • CHFS
  • HTC

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

31 pages, 2132 KB  
Article
Study on the Structural Characteristics of Narrow Fractions of Catalytic Cracking Slurry and the Formation Pathway of Mesophase Pitch
by Xuesong Shan, Shuandi Hou, Renqing Chu, Yun Wu, Yuanyuan Zhang, Dan Guo, Yongen Gao, Shiwen Li and Zihui Ma
Materials 2026, 19(12), 2528; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19122528 - 11 Jun 2026
Viewed by 49
Abstract
FDO’s wide boiling range and complex composition hinder controlled synthesis of high-performance mesophase pitch. Here, FDO was separated into light, middle, and heavy narrow fractions by vacuum distillation. Multi-scale characterization traced molecular evolution and mesophase development. The light fraction consists of three-ring aromatics [...] Read more.
FDO’s wide boiling range and complex composition hinder controlled synthesis of high-performance mesophase pitch. Here, FDO was separated into light, middle, and heavy narrow fractions by vacuum distillation. Multi-scale characterization traced molecular evolution and mesophase development. The light fraction consists of three-ring aromatics with short alkyl side chains and shows the lowest reactivity, yielding limited condensation and poor stacking with isotropic regions and dispersed spheres. The middle fraction contains four-ring aromatics with moderately extended chains, exhibiting enhanced reactivity and undergoing nucleation, growth, coalescence, and disintegration of mesophase spheres. However, insufficient volatiles restrict shear orientation, forming a mosaic texture. The heavy fraction has four-ring aromatics with the longest alkyl chains and the lowest substitution degree, giving the highest reactivity. During thermal cracking, long chains release abundant radicals and volatiles; directional escape generates shear, promoting rapid growth and ordered alignment of aromatic lamellae. At 440 °C for 12 h, this fraction yields high-quality mesophase pitch with small-domain texture, a low softening point (295 °C), and high anisotropic content (98.8%). The pitch shows excellent spinnability, and derived carbon fibers (tensile strength ~1.45 GPa, modulus ~151 GPa) outperform a commercial reference processed under identical conditions. This study reveals molecular-level regulation of mesophase evolution by narrow fraction structures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis and Characterisation of Carbon-Based Materials)
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