Cotton-based hollow carbon fibers with high specific surface area prepared by ammonia etching for supercapacitor application

Abstract

In this paper, carbon fibers with a high specific surface area (SSA) have been prepared from cotton for supercapacitor application.

Cotton-derived carbon fibers with high specific capacitance by ZnCl2 activation for supercapacitor application

“…1. The diameter of the CCFs0 is 6-8 μm, similar to that of commercial Nomex aramid CFs [8]. The fiber morphology of the CCF2 is well preserved after activation, and the average diameter of the CCFs2 is similar to CCFs0.…”

“…In contrast, the CCFs0 without adding ZnCl 2 during carbonization show much lower adsorption capacity with a specific surface area of 89.6 m 2 g -1 . It is noted that the CCFs activated by ZnCl 2 possess higher mesopore percentage than the activated carbon prepared by the KOH [13], which is beneficial for supercapacitor applications [8,14]. The pore size distribution of CCFs2 and CCF3 in Fig.…”

“…The CCFs were denoted as CCFs0, CCFs1, CCFs2, and CCFs3, which the ZnCl 2 /cotton mass ratios are 0/1, 1/1, 2/1, and 3/1, respectively. The materials characterization and electrochemal measurement were referenced previously reported literature [8].…”

“…However, the preparation procedures of the activated CFs need both carbinazition and activation, which is high cost and not environmentally friendly. Compared with the conventional CFs, the cotton-based CFs (CCFs) is hollow and may have better electrochemical performance when used as the active materials due to the increase surface area [8]. Anyway, the CCFs provide an alternative choice for flexible supercapacitor application due to the green nature, good mechanical properties and low cost [9].…”

“…Therefore, much effort has been devoted to developing active electrode materials for supercapacitors. Various carbon materials such as activated carbon [5,6], carbon nanotubes [7], carbon fibers (CFs) [8,9], and graphene [10] are generally used as electrode materials for supercapacitors. Conventional CFs are generally prepared from pitch or polyacrylonitrile, which have been used for supercapacitor applications after activation and shows better electrochemical performance than the granular activated carbon due to their fibrous morphology [11].…”