Sulfur-doped laser-induced graphene derived from polyethersulfone and lignin hybrid for all-solid-state supercapacitor

Abstract

Developing a simple and effective high-performance all-solid-state graphene-based mircosupercapacitor (MSC) by using biomass wastes as raw materials has attracted excellent interest. Here we report a scalable approach for producing sulfur-doped porous three-dimensional (3D) graphene materials from lignin and polyethersulfone (PES) films by using a facile laser direct writing (LDW) technique. In the lignin-PES (L-P) film, lignin, a waste by-product generated in paper industry, was served as a sustainable and economic carbon source, while PES was employed as a sulfur source and adhesive. The lignin-PES film can be transformed into sulfur-doped laser-induced graphene (LIG) by scribing under CO2 laser in ambient condition. Furthermore, the MSCs were fabricated directly using two L-P LIG electrodes as electrode materials, and H2SO4/PVA gel as electrolyte. The results indicate L-P LIG MSCs exhibit excellent electrochemical performances, namely, high areal capacitance (22 mF cm−2), superhigh areal energy density of 1.53 mwh cm−2 at the areal power density of 25.4 mw cm−2, which outperform many LIG-based supercapacitors. The concept of designing MSCs obtained with a simple laser-induced technology can inspire both the building MSCs, preparation of graphene, and the sustainable application of lignin.