Polyacrylonitrile-Based Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Materials with Different Micro-morphology Prepared by Electrostatic Field for Supercapacitors

Abstract

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based nitrogen-doped carbon materials with microspherical and nanofibrous morphology were fabricated by using electrostatic technology and carbonization processes. The microscopic morphology of the PAN-based nitrogen-doped carbon precursor materials can be effectively controlled by simply changing the concentration of the PAN solution. When the concentration of the PAN solution was less than 6%, the morphology of the PAN-based carbon precursor material changed from nanofiber to microsphere. The morphology of the precursor material during carbonization had a significant effect on the pore size distribution of the PAN-based nitrogen-doped carbon materials. Therefore, the electrochemical properties of the PAN-based nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers differed considerably from those of the counterpart microspheres. The electrochemical performance of the PNCF-6 was far superior to those of PNCS-1 and PNCS-4. At a relatively low power density of about 62.4 W kg−1, the PNCF-6 showed the largest energy density (5.4 Wh kg−1).