The Activated Carbon with Pyrolle-N from Cotton Stalk for the Electrochemical Performance

Abstract

Porous carbon materials have been applied in many fields for their advanced physical features. Using biomass waste material as the activated carbon (AC) source is of importance to keep the sustainable environment. The CO2 activation and KOH activation were adopted to create AC with the flexible porous structure and the former caused low surface area but with high nitrogen content of AC. The reversed results were formed with the KOH activation. The differences on specific surface area and nitrogen groups distribution were investigated by nitrogen sorption isotherm and X-ray photoluminescence spectroscopy. Their porous structure and framework were characterized with transmission electron microscope and Raman spectra. Electrochemical performance was evaluated by supercapacitance and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Comparing to the CO2 activation, KOH activation improved surface area of AC and more functional groups on the carbon surface, which led to the enhancement of the electroactivity.