Unconventional mesopore carbon nanomesh prepared through explosion–assisted activation approach: A robust electrode material for ultrafast organic electrolyte supercapacitors

Abstract

This work presented an unconventional mesopore carbon nanomesh (MCNM), featured with numerous evenly distributed in–plane micro/mesopores, which was obtained by a novel explosion–assisted activation process employing carboxymethylcellulose sodium (CMCS) as the carbon precursor while potassium nitrate (KNO3) acts as both an explosive and activating reagent. This work opens a new route toward nanocarbon materials for high–performance electrochemical energy storage devices, which is totally different from the previously reported approaches. Considering the mesopore carbon nanomesh structures combined with the presence of abundant in–plane micro/mesopores as well as large specific surface area, the application of the MCNM materials in high–performance symmetric supercapacitors in organic electrolyte was investigated. The supercapacitor device exhibited competitive performance, including high specific capacitance (up to 149 F/g at 1 A/g), extremely high rate capability (84.6% from 1 A/g to 50 A/g), small IR drop (0.37 V at 50 A/g), outstanding cycling stability (99% capacity retention over 5000 cycles), and reasonable energy densities of 28.7 Wh/kg at an ultrahigh power density of 54000 W/kg. The facile, low–cost and scalable synthesis strategy together with excellent electrochemical performance makes it suitable for applications in electrochemical energy storage devices such as supercapacitors.