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Green Conversion of Microalgae into High‐Performance Sponge‐Like Nitrogen‐Enriched Carbon
Author(s) -
Liu Yingying,
Dai Gongxin,
Zhu Lingjun,
Wang Shurong
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemelectrochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.182
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 2196-0216
DOI - 10.1002/celc.201801272
Subject(s) - nitrogen , carbon fibers , supercapacitor , adsorption , activated carbon , chemical engineering , materials science , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , electrolyte , desorption , electrochemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , electrode , composite material , composite number , engineering
The selective conversion of biomass into high‐value carbon materials has recently been attracting increasing attraction. In this study, a microalga with a high nitrogen content, namely Spirulina platensis , was used as both the carbon and nitrogen precursors in the synthesis of sponge‐like nitrogen‐enriched carbon materials through a one‐step activation method with NaHCO 3 as a green activator. The sponge‐like nitrogen‐enriched carbon materials obtained at different activation temperatures were systematically characterized by using SEM, N 2 adsorption‐desorption, XRD, Raman, and XPS techniques. A series of tests were performed to investigate the electrochemical characteristics of the obtained carbon materials to determine their potential use as supercapacitors. The results show that sponge‐like nitrogen‐enriched carbon activated at 700 °C, which has a large BET surface area of 865 m 2 /g and a high nitrogen content of 7.5 wt%, gave the largest specific capacitance of 234.0 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g in a 6 M KOH electrolyte.