Construction of N-doped mesoporous carbon via micelle-induced chitosan for enhancing capacitive storage

Abstract

Poor rate performance of traditional porous carbon originating from slow ion transport in deep and tortuous pore structures seriously limits its practical application in the field of capacitive storage. In this regard, a novel N-doped mesoporous carbon with excellent rate performance is fabricated through micellar induced chitosan self-assembly, followed by carbonization and activation. The resultant N-doped porous carbon exhibits high specific surface area of 1130 m2 g−1 and interconnected mesoporous structure, which offers short electron and ion transfer pathways improved wettability, and meanwhile provides sufficient interfacial active sites, and enhanced capacity of ion adsorption. These unique advantages endow the prepared porous carbon with a superior capacitance of 287 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 as well as an outstanding rate performance of 189 F g−1 at 10 A g−1 under 10 mg cm−2 in aqueous supercapacitor. Impressively, the assembled Zn-ion hybrid capacitor device achieves an energy density of 121.95 Wh kg−1 at 900 W kg−1 and maintains 65.25 Wh kg−1 at 18000 W kg−1. Meanwhile, this device also achieves excellent cycle stability. This research provides a cost-effective strategy for the construction of carbon-based materials in high-rate energy storage.