Macroscopic synthesis of ultrafine N-doped carbon nanofibers for superior capacitive energy storage

Qiang Yu; Jianshuai Lv; Zhenhui Liu; Ming Xu; Wei Yang; Kwadwo Asare Owusu; Liqiang Mai; Dongyuan Zhao; Liang Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2019.08.008

Macroscopic synthesis of ultrafine N-doped carbon nanofibers for superior capacitive energy storage

Sci Bull (Beijing). 2019 Nov 15;64(21):1617-1624. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2019.08.008. Epub 2019 Aug 9.

Authors

Qiang Yu¹, Jianshuai Lv², Zhenhui Liu¹, Ming Xu¹, Wei Yang¹, Kwadwo Asare Owusu¹, Liqiang Mai¹, Dongyuan Zhao¹, Liang Zhou³

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China; International School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: liangzhou@whut.edu.cn.

PMID: 36659574
DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2019.08.008

Abstract

Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) with excellent electric conductivity and high surface area have attracted immense research interests in supercapacitors. However, the macroscopic production of CNFs still remains a great challenge. Herein, ultrafine N-doped CNFs (N-CNFs) with a diameter of ∼20 nm are synthesized through a simple and scalable sol-gel method based on the self-assembly of phenolic resin and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. When employed in aqueous supercapacitors, the obtained activated N-CNFs manifest a high gravimetric/areal capacitance (380 F g^-1/1.7 F cm^-2) as well as outstanding rate capability and cycling stability. Besides, the activated N-CNFs also demonstrate excellent capacitive performance (330 F g^-1) in flexible quasi-solid-state supercapacitors. The remarkable electrochemical performance as well as the easy and scalable synthesis makes the N-CNFs a highly promising electrode material for supercapacitors.

Keywords: Carbon; Macroscopic synthesis; Nanofibers; N–doping; Supercapacitor.