Biomass-Based Nitrogen-Doped Hollow Carbon Nanospheres Derived Directly from Glucose and Glucosamine: Structural Evolution and Supercapacitor Properties

Abstract

Carbon-based materials generated from biomass have been studied extensively. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no report of any hollow structured carbon nanospheres directly derived from biomass without the use of templates. In this research, a green route to directly convert biomass to nitrogen-doped hollow carbon nanospheres (N-HCSs) was reported, where only glucose and glucosamine were used as the precursors and an aerosol-assisted process was employed. In the process, amino groups of glucosamine triggered the coassembly between glucose and glucosamine, resulting in the structural evolution of hollow structures. The aerosol-based technology ensures the obtained particles have a spherical morphology and are in the nanoscale size range. The as-prepared materials have been thoroughly characterized by SEM, TEM, HAADF-STEM, EELS mapping, XPS, XRD, Raman, and nitrogen adsorption. Owing to the unique structural and surface properties, the resultant N-HCSs exhibited excellent electrochemical properties for energy storage, including a high specific capacitance of 266 F g −1 at 0.2 A g −1 , long cycling stability with 96.8% of capacitance retained after 3000 cycles, and a fast charge−discharge process. This discovery could be adapted to guide the design and synthesis of a variety of hollow materials from biomass for wider applications in the environment and energy fields.

Renewable biomass‐derived carbons for electrochemical capacitor applications

“…Spherical BDCs are characterized by good mechanical strength and high bulk density, useful for increased volume energy density 207 . Various methods have been utilized to prepare spherical BDCs, such as hydrothermal, 208,209 pyrolysis, 13 and self‐assembly 210,211 . Spherical BDCs can easily be obtained from biomass derivatives, such as sugar sources (glucose, saccharose, and xylose) by the hydrothermal process not directly from biomass.…”

“…In this view, spherical BDC from xylose can be formed by the hydrothermal carbonization followed by sequential KOH‐H 3 PO 4 activation to obtain uniform spherical shaped porous structures with elevated specific surface areas up to 692 m 2 ·g –1 when compared to nonactivated BDCs (1.53 m 2 ·g –1 , Figure 8A). 208 For instance, spherical BDC from glucose and glucosamine with nitrogen‐doped can be synthesized by aerosol‐assisted process (Figure 8B), where the amino groups of glucosamine trigger self‐assembly between glucosamine and glucose to form BDC with spherical morphology, suitable for high specific capacitance and long cycling stability 210 . Porous hollow BDCs from soybean waste can be prepared by the hydrothermal carbonization followed by high‐temperature treatment under different atmospheres.…”

Nitrogen doped microporous carbon nanospheres derived from chitin nanogels as attractive materials for supercapacitors

“…CNC-800 exhibited superior specic capacitance of 192 F g À1 at 0.5 A g À1 , 179 F g À1 at 1 A g À1 , which was comparable to several previously reported bio-carbons but lower than polymer precursor-derived carbons (Table 3). 6,39,[49][50][51][52] This may be caused by a more optimal structure and higher nitrogen content for polymer precursor-derived carbons. When the current density increased to 10 A g À1 , the specic capacitance decreased to 155 A g À1 in virtue of the diffusion limitation of ions during fast charging-discharging, 53 with capacitance retention of 81%, indicating good rate capability.…”

Tuning Nitrogen Species in Two‐Dimensional Carbon through Pore Structure Change for High Supercapacitor Performance

“…[36][37] It can be concluded from Figure 4a that the CNF-5 sample has a bigger capacitance behavior than the CNF-1 and CNF-3 samples. Considering the fact that the cyclic voltammetry (CV) area is usually proportional to the capacitance.…”

“…Considering the fact that the cyclic voltammetry (CV) area is usually proportional to the capacitance. [36][37] It can be concluded from Figure 4a that the CNF-5 sample has a bigger capacitance behavior than the CNF-1 and CNF-3 samples. Similar conclusions can be drawn from the galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) curves detected at 1 A g À 1 as shown in Figure 4b, which uncovers CNF-5 has the longest discharge time and further confirming it has the biggest capacitance (the sequence is CNF-1 (124 F g À 1 ) < CNF-3 (160 F g À 1 ) < CNF-5 (220 F g À 1 ) shown in Figure 4c).…”