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Superior Capacitive Performance of Hydrochar‐Based Porous Carbons in Aqueous Electrolytes
Author(s) -
Fuertes Antonio B.,
Sevilla Marta
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201403267
Subject(s) - melamine , mesoporous material , heteroatom , aqueous solution , electrolyte , supercapacitor , chemical engineering , microporous material , materials science , carbon fibers , porosity , chemistry , electrochemistry , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , electrode , catalysis , ring (chemistry) , composite material , composite number , engineering
Biomass‐based highly porous carbons with excellent performances in aqueous electrolyte‐based supercapacitors have been developed. The synthesis of these materials is based on the chemical activation of biomass‐based hydrochar. The addition of melamine to the activation mixture leads to porous carbons with a porosity consisting of micropores/small mesopores. Furthermore, melamine promotes the introduction of nitrogen heteroatoms in the carbon framework, along with abundant oxygen functionalities, to improve the wettability. The materials produced in the presence or absence of melamine exhibit high specific capacitances in aqueous electrolytes (>270 F g −1 in H 2 SO 4 and >190 F g −1 in Li 2 SO 4 ). Additionally, the mesopores present in the melamine‐based micro‐/mesoporous carbons notably improve the ion‐transport kinetics, especially in Li 2 SO 4 . Furthermore, in Li 2 SO 4 , they remain stable up to a cell voltage of 1.6 V; thus exhibiting superior energy and power characteristics than those in H 2 SO 4 .