From Biomass to Functional Crystalline Diamond Nanothread: Pressure-Induced Polymerization of 2,5-Furandicarboxylic Acid
Xuan Wang, Xin Yang, Yida Wang, Xingyu Tang, Haiyan Zheng, Peijie Zhang, Dexiang Gao, Guangwei Che, Zijia Wang, Aijiao Guan, Junfeng Xiang, Mingxue Tang, Xiao Dong, Kuo Li, Ho‐kwang Mao
Abstract
2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is one of the top-12 value-added chemicals from sugar. Besides the wide application in chemical industry, here we found that solid FDCA polymerized to form an atomic-scale ordered sp3-carbon nanothread (CNTh) upon compression. With the help of perfectly aligned π–π stacked molecules and strong intermolecular hydrogen bonds, crystalline poly-FDCA CNTh with uniform syn-configuration was obtained above 11 GPa, with the crystal structure determined by Rietveld refinement of the X-ray diffraction (XRD). The in situ XRD and theoretical simulation results show that the FDCA experienced continuous [4 + 2] Diels–Alder reactions along the stacking direction at the threshold C···C distance of ∼2.8 Å. Benefiting from the abundant carbonyl groups, the poly-FDCA shows a high specific capacity of 375 mAh g–1 as an anode material of a lithium battery with excellent Coulombic efficiency and rate performance. This is the first time a three-dimensional crystalline CNTh is obtained, and we demonstrated it is the hydrogen bonds that lead to the formation of the crystalline material with a unique configuration. It also provides a new method to move biomass compounds toward advanced functional carbon materials.