Properties of Carbon Fibers as Supercapacitor Electrodes via Electrospinning Using a Blending Solution of Polyacrylonitrile and Bisphenol A

Abstract

Supercapacitors have attracted attention as efficient energy storage systems owing to their high power density and cycling stability. The use of appropriate electrode materials is important for high-performance supercapacitors, and various carbon materials have been studied as supercapacitor electrodes. In this study, carbon nanofibers with high specific surface areas were fabricated via a simple electrospinning process. Carbon nanofibers were fabricated by adjusting the ratio of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) to bisphenol A (BPA) and evaluated as electrode materials for supercapacitors. With the addition of BPA, improved specific surface area and oxygen functional groups were observed compared with nanofibers using only PAN. Therefore, BPA3, which had the highest specific surface area, exhibited a 28% improvement in capacitance (162 F/g) compared with BPA0 fabricated using only PAN. Carbon nanofibers fabricated by adjusting the ratio of BPA to PAN are promising electrodes for supercapacitors owing to their high capacitance and stability.