Heteroatom-Doped Porous Carbon Nanosheets: General Preparation and Enhanced Capacitive Properties.

Abstract

High-performance electrical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) require carbon electrode materials with high specific surface area, short ion-diffusion pathways, and outstanding electrical conductivity. Herein, a general approach combing the molten-salt method and chemical activation to prepare N-doped carbon nanosheets with high surface area (654 m2 g-1 ) and adjustable porous structure is presented. Owing to their structural features, the N-doped carbon nanosheets exhibited superior capacitive performance, demonstrated by a maximum capacitance of 243 F g-1 (area-normalized capacitance up to 37 μF cm-2 ) at a current density of 0.5 A g-1 in aqueous electrolyte, high rate capability (179 F g-1 at 20 A g-1 ), and excellent cycle stability. This method provides a new route to prepare porous and heteroatom-doped carbon nanosheets for high-performance EDLCs, which could also be extended to other polymer precursors and even waste biomass.