Nitrogen, Phosphorus Co-doped Carbon Obtained from Amino Acid Based Resin Xerogel as Efficient Electrode for Supercapacitor

Abstract

The organic xerogel was synthesized from the polymerization reaction of a kind of amino acid, tyrosine, and pyrrole-2-carbaldehyde using phosphoric acid as the catalyst and phosphorus source. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) co-doped carbon (NPC) aerogels were obtained via the cabonization of the synthesized organic xerogel and subsequently being activated by KOH. The influences of the activation agent ratio and activation temperature on the structure, morphology, and the final electrochemical property of NPC materials have been investigated. Compared to the nonactivated sample, the obtained activated N/P-co-doped hierarchical porous carbon exhibits superior electrochemical performance. The optimized sample shows a high specific capacitance of 302 F g–1 at 0.5 A g–1 and good rate capability with capacitance remaining of 214 F g–1 at 20 A g–1, as well as excellent cycling stability with 100% retention after 20,000 cycles in 6 M KOH electrolyte. Considering the practical application, when 60 mg of active mat...