Carbon Aerogels Derived from Bacterial Cellulose/Polyimide Composites as Versatile Adsorbents and Supercapacitor Electrodes

Abstract

Hierarchically structured carbon aerogels consisting of one-dimensional carbon nanofibers and at hree-dimensional carbon skeletona re prepared by sequential imidization and carbonization of bacterial cellulose/poly(amic acid) composite aerogels. The as-obtained carbon aerogels show excellent compressive properties,a nd can be directly used as versatile adsorbents for variousl iquidsw ith superior sorption capacity and extraordinary recycling performance. Interestingly,t he recycled carbon aerogels can still be used as electrode materials for supercapacitors with ah igh specific capacitance of 194.7 Fg À1 and excellent stability,w hich is attributed to the interconnected pores for fast ion diffusion, the maximized active site exposure for efficient chargea dsorptions, and crosslinked carbon nanofibers for rapid electron transport. Therefore, this work provides an ew strategy to develop multidimensional carbonaceousm aterials for both environmental ande nergy applications.

Biomass-Derived Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanofiber Network: A Facile Template for Decoration of Ultrathin Nickel-Cobalt Layered Double Hydroxide Nanosheets as High-Performance Asymmetric Supercapacitor Electrode

“…Recently, Lou et al successfully synthesized NiCo 2 O 4 nanorods/ultrathin nanosheets on carbon nanofibers to form an excellent electrode material with high power and energy densities, which is ascribed to its high electroactive surface area and porous feature, indicating the virtues of continuous carbon nanofibers as a template for immobilization of metal oxides/hydroxides. Compared with synthetic carbon nanofibers (such as polyacrylonitrile‐based carbon nanofibers, polyimide‐based carbon nanofibers, and ordered mesoporous carbon nanofibers), biomass‐derived carbon nanofibers have been considered as a more promising candidate for next‐generation electrochemical electrode materials owning to their abundant resource, low cost, easy fabrication, and eco‐friendliness . Bacterial cellulose is one kind of typical biomass precursors with 3D networks consisting of superfine nanofibers (≈50 nm in diameter), which is produced through microbial fermentation .…”

Natural sliced wood veneer as a universal porous lightweight substrate for supercapacitor electrode materials

“…The application of cellulose-based energy storage materials for lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors has received unprecedented attention in recent years. [1][2][3][4][5] In particular, the use of nanocellulose as a carrier or a shaped material in combination with an electrochemically active material (e.g., a conductive polymer or carbon nanomaterial) to form energy storage materials, [6][7][8][9] and the direct carbonisation of nanocellulose into activated carbon materials [10][11][12][13][14] have been examined in detail. This increased attention regarding nanocellulose is closely related to its excellent properties, which are derived from its biomass source, i.e., wood.…”

3D network of cellulose-based energy storage devices and related emerging applications

“…70 A BC-poly(amic acid) composite consisting of 1D carbon nanofibers and a 3D carbon skeleton offered a high specific capacitance of 194.7 F g À1 due to its interconnected pores for fast ion diffusion, efficient charge sorption, and rapid electron transport. 71 Thus, a multidimensional carbon composite derived from BC not only outperformed a series of carbon-based electrodes, including BC and graphenebased composites, but also revealed a new trend toward using multidimensional carbon aerogels for a wide-range of electrochemical applications. It has also been realized that among the many cellulosic sources offering porous electrode platforms for making composite electrodes, BC, consisting of a high content of superfine nanofibers (40-60 nm diameter) free of lignin/ semicellulose, exhibits a large surface area, and high crystallinity and porosity.…”

“…A strategy of obtaining carbon aerogels consisting of 1D-carbon nanofibers (BC-derived) and a 3D-carbon skeleton (from polyimide (PI)) was established via sequential imidization and carbonization. 71 These carbon aerogels were versatile and had superior adsorption and energy storage abilities. With the increase in PI content, the compressive modulus of BC/PI aerogels was improved, which was due to the presence of rigid chains of polyimide and enhanced cross-linking between the polyimide and ultrafine BC nanofibers.…”