10.1021/jp2015512.s001 Niki Baccile Niki Baccile Guillaume Laurent Guillaume Laurent Cristina Coelho Cristina Coelho Florence Babonneau Florence Babonneau Li Zhao Li Zhao Maria-Magdalena Titirici Maria-Magdalena Titirici Structural Insights on Nitrogen-Containing Hydrothermal Carbon Using Solid-State Magic Angle Spinning <sup>13</sup>C and <sup>15</sup>N Nuclear Magnetic Resonance American Chemical Society 2011 15 N Nuclear carbohydrate material type 13 C hydrothermal NMR model system contrast 2011-05-12 00:00:00 Journal contribution https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Structural_Insights_on_Nitrogen_Containing_Hydrothermal_Carbon_Using_Solid_State_Magic_Angle_Spinning_sup_13_sup_C_and_sup_15_sup_N_Nuclear_Magnetic_Resonance/2653675 Here, <sup>13</sup>C and <sup>15</sup>N solid state NMR is used as the main and most effective characterization technique on nitrogen-containing hydrothermal carbons obtained from glucose and glycine. This study represents a model system for other types of nitrogen-containing hydrothermal carbons, which were shown to have interesting energy-storage properties (Zhao et al. Adv. Mater. 2010, 22, 5202). These materials are obtained either from N-containing carbohydrates or from pure carbohydrates in the presence of natural amino-containing compounds such as proteins or aminoacids. In contrast to what is generally known for this model system, high molecular weight heterogeneous polymers (e.g., melanoidins) that are formed when sugars and amino acids combine through the Maillard reaction, we found an extended nitrogen-containing aromatic network, which is chemically bound to a polyfuran network known to be one of the main components of the biomass-derived hydrothermal carbons. In contrast to the hydrothermal carbons obtained from pure carbohydrates, these types of N-containing materials have an increased level of aromatic character already present at 180 °C, after the hydrothermal treatment.