Nitrogen-Doped Mesoporous Carbon Microspheres by Spray Drying-Vapor Deposition for High-Performance Supercapacitor.

Xiaoran Sun,Liang Zhou,Xiaodan Huang,Yang Liu,Ashok Kumar Nanjundan,Yueqi Kong,Chengzhong Yu

doi:10.3389/fchem.2020.592904

Abstract

Nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon microspheres have been successfully synthesized via a spray drying-vapor deposition method for the first time, using commercial Ludox silica nanoparticles as hard templates. Compared to freeze-drying and air-drying methods, mesoporous carbon with a higher packing density can be achieved through the spray drying method. Vapor deposition of polypyrrole followed by carbonization and etching is beneficial for the generation of ultra-thin carbon network. The mesoporous carbon microspheres possess a mesopore-dominate (95%) high surface area of 1528 m2 g−1, a wall thickness of 1.8 nm, and a nitrogen content of 8 at% in the framework. Benefiting from the increased apparent density, high mesopore surface area, and considerable nitrogen doping, the resultant mesoporous carbon microspheres show superior gravimetric/volumetric capacitance of 533.6 F g−1 and 208.1 F cm−3, good rate performance and excellent cycling stability in electric double-layer capacitors.

Highlights

Electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs), a typical type of supercapacitors, are appealing power sources for consumer electronics and uninterruptible power supplies owing to their high power density, rapid charge/discharge, environmental friendliness, and long cycling life (Simon and Gogotsi, 2008, 2020; Choi et al, 2012; Wang et al, 2012; Liu et al, 2019, 2020; Noori et al, 2019; Li et al, 2020)
Nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon microspheres were synthesized via spray drying and vapor deposition method
Nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon microspheres were synthesized by a spray drying-vapor deposition process (Figure 1A)

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs), a typical type of supercapacitors, are appealing power sources for consumer electronics and uninterruptible power supplies owing to their high power density, rapid charge/discharge, environmental friendliness, and long cycling life (Simon and Gogotsi, 2008, 2020; Choi et al, 2012; Wang et al, 2012; Liu et al, 2019, 2020; Noori et al, 2019; Li et al, 2020). The synthesis was usually conducted in solutions (Han and Hyeon, 1999), resulting in carbon materials with undefined morphology and relatively low packing density, unfavorable for the volumetric performance of EDLCs (Gogotsi and Simon, 2011; Wang et al, 2016). We report the preparation of nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon microspheres by a spray drying-vapor deposition method for the first time, using commercial Ludox colloidal silica nanoparticles as porogens. The resultant mesoporous carbon microspheres have a mesopore-dominant (95%) high surface area (1,528 m2 g−1) with 8 At% nitrogen doping, an increased apparent density, and excellent gravimetric/volumetric performance as an electrode material in EDLCs. Highly Nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon microspheres were synthesized via spray drying and vapor deposition method.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

CONCLUSION

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT