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Flexible Nano‐felts of Carbide‐Derived Carbon with Ultra‐high Power Handling Capability
Author(s) -
Presser Volker,
Zhang Lifeng,
Niu Jun Jie,
McDonough John,
Perez Carlos,
Fong Hao,
Gogotsi Yury
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201100047
Subject(s) - materials science , supercapacitor , titanium carbide , electrolyte , nano , carbon fibers , gravimetric analysis , chemical engineering , composite material , capacitance , horizontal scan rate , carbide , graphene , microstructure , carbide derived carbon , electrode , electrochemistry , nanotechnology , carbon nanofiber , cyclic voltammetry , composite number , organic chemistry , carbon nanotube , chemistry , engineering
Nano‐fibrous felts (nano‐felts) of carbide‐derived carbon (CDC) have been developed from the precursor of electrospun titanium carbide (TiC) nano‐felts. Conformal transformation of TiC into CDC conserves main features of the precursor including the high interconnectivity and structural integrity; the developed TiC‐CDC nano‐felts are mechanically flexible/resilient, and can be used as electrode material for supercapacitor application without the addition of any binder. After synthesis through chlorination of the precursor at 600 °C, the TiC‐CDC nano‐fibers show an average pore size of ∼1nm, a high specific surface area of 1390 m 2 /g; and the nano‐fibers have graphitic carbon ribbons embedded in a highly disordered carbon matrix. Graphitic carbon is preserved from the precursor nano‐fibers where a few graphene layers surround TiC nanocrystallites. Electrochemical measurements show a high gravimetric capacitance of 110 F/g in aqueous electrolyte (1 M H 2 SO 4 ) and 65 F/g in organic electrolyte (1.5 M TEA‐BF 4 in acetonitrile). Because of the unique microstructure of TiC‐CDC nano‐felts, a fade of the capacitance of merely 50% at a high scan rate of 5 V/s is observed. A fade of just 15% is observed for nano‐felt film electrodes tested in 1 M H 2 SO 4 at 1 V/s, resulting in a high gravimetric capacitance of 94 F/g. Such a high rate performance is only known for graphene or carbon‐onion based supercapacitors, whereas binders have to be used for the fabrication of those supercapacitors.