Functionalized, hierarchical and ordered mesoporous carbons for high-performance supercapacitors

Abstract

Two new ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) exhibiting hierarchical structures were obtained through a nanocasting route from nitrogen and oxygen-containing precursors without any additional activation post-treatment. The combination of properties, such as high mesopore volumes, synergetic pseudocapacitive effect of nitrogen and oxygen groups, good wettability, low electrical resistance, low tortuosity of the straight channels and high structural order of the carbon arrangement explains the excellent electrochemical performances of both materials as supercapacitor electrodes. They exhibited excellent rate capability and high specific capacitance (∼390 F g−1 at 0.5 mV s−1). Moreover, the studied materials, M900 and P900, showed energy densities of 54.6–19.6 W h kg−1 and 60.3–22.2 W h kg−1, respectively, under power outputs of 0.54–81.3 kW kg−1 and 0.71–92.5 kW kg−1, which make them excellent candidates in high energy and power density applications.