Eco-Friendly Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Mesoporous Carbon for Supercapacitor Application

Abstract

A sustainable and simple synthesis procedure involving the co-assembly of green phenolic resin and amphiphilic polymer template in water/ethanol mixture at room temperature to synthesize nitrogen doped mesoporous carbon is reported herein. Guanine is proposed as a novel nitrogen-based precursor which is able to create H-bondings both with the phenolic resin and the template allowing the formation of mesoporous carbons with nitrogen atoms uniformly distributed in their framework. The influence of the synthesis procedure, template amount and annealing temperature on the carbon textural properties, structure and surface chemistry were investigated. For several conditions, carbon materials with ordered pore size and high nitrogen content (up to 10.6 at %) could be achieved. The phase separation procedure combined with optimal amount of template favor the formation of ordered mesoporous carbons with higher specific surface area while the increase in the temperature induces a decrease in the surface area and amount of heteroatoms (N and O). The electrochemical performances as electrode in supercapacitors were evaluated in acidic medium and the capacitance was closely related to the material conductivity and surface chemistry.

Capacitive storage at nitrogen doped amorphous carbon electrodes: structural and chemical effects of nitrogen incorporation

“…However, the presence of disorder can also result in an undesirable reduction in conductivity and there is consequently great interest in understanding how best to tailor the interplay between interfacial capacitance, surface functionalities and bulk electronic properties in amorphous carbon materials. 1,3 In this work we focus on a study of the effect of nitrogen incorporation on the capacitive properties of amorphous carbon (a-C) thin-lm electrodes. Incorporation of nitrogen functional sites has emerged as one of the important tools available to modulate both electronic and interfacial chemistry of carbon electrodes.…”

Novel mesoporous electrode materials for symmetric, asymmetric and hybrid supercapacitors

“…The capacitance retention indicates that the electrodes possess good rate capability. Hetero-atom doped mesoporous carbons are potential candidates for supercapacitor electrode application since they exhibit high specific capacitance which arises from the faradaic reactions [69]. Brandiele et al have synthesized mesoporous carbons doped with nitrogen and sulfur by templating silica and used as electrode materials in supercapacitors [70].…”

Novel Synthesis of Nitrogen-Containing Bio-Phenol Resin and Its Molten Salt Activation of Porous Carbon for Supercapacitor Electrode

“…Among the electrode materials, porous carbon materials were the first to be studied and the most mature for technical application [1,2]. The incorporation of nitrogen into the porous carbon structure can improve its wettability, conductivity, and increases its specific capacitance [3]. There are two ways to incorporate the nitrogen element into the porous carbons [4].…”