Abstract
Carbon spheres (CS) have been widely used in supercapacitor due to their uniform structure and high surface area. The final properties of CS are affected by both the synthesis conditions and the preparation of precursors. Herein, a simple and green method to catalyze resorcinol/formaldehyde polymerization with catalysis of amino acids was proposed. As the reaction progressed, the amino acid molecules were consumed through the interaction with resorcinol, indicating that it can successfully catalyze the resin polymerization. The L-arginine catalyzed CS shows favorable characteristics for electrochemical energy storage, such as high specific surface area (416 m 2 g -1 ) and high pore volumes (0.24 cm 3 g -1 ). As the electrode material of supercapacitors, it has high specific capacitance of 235 F g -1 at 1 A g -1 , excellent rate performance and long-term stability in 6 M KOH As an electrode material, after 10,000 cycles of testing, it can still retain 97.46% of the initial capacity. • Amino acid replaces ammonia solution to catalyze resin polymerization, effectively avoiding the irritation and corrosiveness of ammonia solution. • Different amino acid species changed the size and morphology of the final carbon spheres. • L-arginine makes the carbon spheres more uniform due to the combined action of guanidine group and amino group. • Carbon spheres with mesoporous structure possess improved electrochemical performance comparing with microporous ones.
Published Version
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