Double-activated porous carbons for high-performance supercapacitor electrodes

The double-activated porous carbons（DAPCs）with unique bimodal pore structure were prepared by activating commercial microporous carbon（CMCs） twice through KOH（double activation） at high temperature. The as-prepared DAPCs show larger surface area（833 m^2·g^-1）,and the pores are composed of micropores（size of-1.8 nm） and mesopores（size of -4.5 nm）. Such special hierarchical porous structures integrate the dual advantages of micropore and mesopore, having not only the high energy storage of the micropores but also the high-rate performance of the mesopores for supercapacitors（SCs）.As a result, the optimized DAPCs-3-1 exhibits a high specific capacitance of 277 F·g^-1 at 1 A·g^-1, enhanced rate performance of 197 F·g^-1 at a high current density of 10 A·g^-1, and excellent cycling stability with 94.2% capacity retention after 10,000 cycles in the 1 mol·L^-1 Na2SO4 electrolyte. The facile double activation could be a promising method to prepare suitable porous carbons with exceptional electrochemical properties for SCs.

KOH activated carbon derived from biomass-banana fibers as an efficient negative electrode in high performance asymmetric supercapacitor

Here we demonstrate the fabrication, electrochemical performance and application of an asymmetric supercapacitor (AS) device constructed with ss-Ni(OH)(2)/MWCNTs as positive electrode and KOH activated honeycomb-like porous carbon (K-PC) derived from banana fibers as negative electrode. Initially, the electrochemical performance of hydrothermally synthesized ss-Ni(OH)(2)/MWCNTs nanocomposite and K-PC was studied in a three-electrode system using 1 M KOH. These materials exhibited a specific capacitance (Cs) of 1327 Fig and 324 F/g respectively at a scan rate of 10 mV/s. Further, the AS device i.e., ss-Ni(OH)(2)/MWCNTs// K-PC in 1 M KOH solution, demonstrated a Cs of 156 F/g at scan rate of 10 mV/s in a broad cell voltage of 0-2.2 V. The device demonstrated a good rate capability by maintaining a Cs of 59 F/g even at high current density (25 A/g). The device also offered high energy density of 63 Wh/kg with maximum power density of 5.2 kW/kg. The AS device exhibited excellent cycle life with 100% capacitance retention at 5000th cycle at a high current density of 25 A/g. Two AS devices connected in series were employed for powering a pair of LEDs of different colors and also a mini fan. (C) 2016 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.

Effective exposure of nitrogen heteroatoms in 3D porous graphene framework for oxygen reduction reaction and lithium–sulfur batteries

The introduction of nitrogen heteroatoms into carbon materials is a facile and efficient strategy to regulate their reactivities and facilitate their potential applications in energy conversion and storage. However,most of nitrogen heteroatoms are doped into the bulk phase of carbon without site selectivity, which significantly reduces the contacts of feedstocks with the active dopants in a conductive scaffold. Herein we proposed the chemical vapor deposition of a nitrogen-doped graphene skin on the 3D porous graphene framework and donated the carbon/carbon composite as surface N-doped grapheme（SNG）. In contrast with routine N-doped graphene framework（NGF） with bulk distribution of N heteroatoms, the SNG renders a high surface N content of 1.81 at%, enhanced electrical conductivity of 31 S cm^（-1）, a large surface area of 1531 m^2 g^（-1）, a low defect density with a low I_D/I_G ratio of 1.55 calculated from Raman spectrum, and a high oxidation peak of 532.7 ℃ in oxygen atmosphere. The selective distribution of N heteroatoms on the surface of SNG affords the effective exposure of active sites at the interfaces of the electrode/electrolyte, so that more N heteroatoms are able to contact with oxygen feedstocks in oxygen reduction reaction or serve as polysulfide anchoring sites to retard the shuttle of polysulfides in a lithium–sulfur battery. This work opens a fresh viewpoint on the manipulation of active site distribution in a conductive scaffolds for multi-electron redox reaction based energy conversion and storage.

Clean utilization of palm kernel shell:sustainable and naturally heteroatom-doped porous activated carbon for lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur batteries(LSBs)have received much concern as emerging high-power energy storage system.Nevertheless,the low conductivity of sulfur and poly sulfide shuttle results in low rate capability and rapid capacity decay,which seriously limit its commercial application.Here,facile,sustainable and cost-effective strategy for preparing heteroatom-doped porous activated carbon(PAC)derived from biomass palm kernel shell(PKS)was developed for high-performance LSB applications.The presence of N,P and S heteroatoms with modification of the surface polarity brings about large amounts of active sites and improved adsorption property compared to those of common carbon materials.The PAC sample possesses desirable specific surface area(SSA)(2760 m2·g-1)as well as pore volume(1.6 cm3·g-1).Besides,the good electrical conductivity of PAC endows the material with excellent rate performance.The PAC-S electrode with a 60%of sulfur loading has a desirable first discharge capacity(1045 mAh·g1,200 mA·g-1)with superb discharge capacity(869.8 mAh·g-1,100 th cycle)and cyclability(312.6 mAh·g-1,800 mA·g-1,1000 th cycle),which can be mainly ascribed to its unique porous properties and the good conductivity of PAC.