In this paper, a
series of N/O co-doped porous carbons (PCs) were
designed and used to prepare coal tar pitch-based supercapacitors
(SCs). The introduction of N/O species under the intervention of urea
effectively improves the pseudocapacitance of PCs. The results show
that the specific surface area of synthesized N
3
PC
4-700
is 1914 m
2
g
–1
, while
the N and O contents are 1.3 and 7.2%, respectively. The unique interconnected
pore structure and proper organic N/O co-doping, especially the introduction
of pyridine-N and pyrrole-N, are beneficial for improving the electrochemical
performance of PCs. In the three-electrode system, the specific capacitance
and rate capability of N
3
PC
4-700
are
532.5 F g
–1
and 72.5% at the current densities of
0.5 and 20 A g
–1
, respectively. In addition, the
specific capacitance of N
3
PC
4-700
in
a coin-type symmetric device is 315.5 F g
–1
at 0.5
A g
–1
. The N
3
PC
4-700
electrode provides an energy density of 43.8 W h kg
–1
with a power density of 0.5 kW kg
–1
and still
maintains a value of 29.7 at 10 kW kg
–1
. After 10,000
charge/discharge cycles, the retention rate was as high as 96.7%.
In order to obtain high-performance carbon-based SCs, the effective
identification and regulation of organic N/O species is necessary.
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