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Scalable Polymerization Approach to Tailoring Morphologies of Polyimide‐Derived N‐Doped Carbons for High‐Performance Supercapacitors
Author(s) -
Liu Xufei,
Mei Peng,
Lei Sheng,
Zhang Xiaofang,
Liu Qian,
Yang Yingkui
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
energy technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2194-4296
pISSN - 2194-4288
DOI - 10.1002/ente.201901013
Subject(s) - supercapacitor , materials science , polyimide , carbonization , polymerization , chemical engineering , monomer , carbon fibers , heteroatom , capacitance , power density , polymer chemistry , nanotechnology , electrode , composite number , organic chemistry , composite material , polymer , chemistry , scanning electron microscope , alkyl , layer (electronics) , engineering , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics
3D N‐doped carbon nanobelt (NCB) networks are fabricated by one‐pot hydrothermal polycondensation of co‐monomer salts of dianhydride and diamine followed by carbonization of the resulting nanobelt‐like polyimides. As control samples, solvothermally polymerized petal‐like polyimides and conventionally polymerized spindle‐like polyimides are also produced, which further yields N‐doped carbon petals and N‐doped carbon spindles after identical carbonization, respectively. Interestingly, all N‐doped carbons copy the morphologies of their polyimide precursors well. Specially, the 800°C‐treated NCB exhibits a robust 3D architecture composed of intertwined nanobelt networks with high N‐doping levels and electroactivity‐enriched N configurations. Remarkably, the symmetric supercapacitor assembled by such NCB electrodes delivers large specific capacitance (193 F g −1 at 1 A g −1 ), high rate capability (176 F g −1 at 20 A g −1 ), and long cycling stability (nearly 100% retention over 10,000 cycles at 20 A g −1 ). The energy density is as high as 27 Wh Kg −1 at the power density of 500 W Kg −1 , and retains 24 Wh Kg −1 at the power density up to 20,000 W Kg −1 . This work opens up an affordable and scalable approach to the rational fabrication of heteroatom‐contained carbon materials for high‐performance supercapacitors with well‐balanced power and energy output.