Nitrogen-doped porous carbon monoliths from molecular-level dispersion of carbon nanotubes into polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and the effect of carbonization process for supercapacitors

Yanqing Wang, Jinying Wang, Shingo Morimoto, Gan Jet Hong Melvin, Ruiqi Zhao, Yoshio Hashimoto, Mauricio Terrones

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

Nitrogen-doped porous carbon monoliths (NDP-CMs) have long been pursued as the desirable supercapacitor electrode materials. However, the currently effective template methods and Lewis acid/base activation strategy suffer from the drawbacks of either high costs or tedious steps. We report on a simple and practicable novel method to the production of CNTs constructed NDP-CMs. Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) contained carbon nanotubes (CNTs), being dispersed into tubular level of dispersions (mono-dispersions), were used as the starting material and NDP-CMs were obtained through a direct carbonization process. First, PAN/CNT based mesostructured polymeric monoliths with interconnected networks were formed using a template-free temperature-induced phase separation (TTPS) method and the mono-dispersed CNTs networks act as the backbones of PAN molecules. Then, NDP-CMs with a surface area of 840 m2/g and a pore diameter 2.48 nm were obtained through heat treatment. Thus, the NDP-CMs based supercapacitor demonstrated a reversible specific capacitance of 246 F/g. Furthermore, pyridinic nitrogen and quaternary nitrogen species contribute significantly to the advantageous electrochemical activities of NDP-CMs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)776-785
Number of pages10
JournalCarbon
Volume143
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2019

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Chemistry(all)
  • Materials Science(all)

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