Nitrogen Co-doped Carbon Research Articles

Synergistic effect of PMS activation by Fe0@Fe3O4 anchored on N, S, O co-doped carbon composite for degradation of sulfamethoxazole

High efficient activator is highly desired in the field of persulfate-based advanced oxidation process. In comparison with the previous studies, this study adopted nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen co-doped carbon material to support Fe0 encapsulate in Fe3O4 to prepare iron-based modified carbon composite (Fe0@Fe3O4-MC) by a facile two-step pyrolysis. Fe0@Fe3O4-MC was then used for degradation of sulfamethoxazole. The results showed that Fe0@Fe3O4-MC had superior catalytic activity for PMS activation due to the synergistic effect of iron-based compound and modified carbon. In the presence of 0.1 g/L of Fe0@Fe3O4-MC, SMX (0.04 mM) could be completely degraded within 120 min at pH 3.4 and 3 mM of PMS. The SMX degradation followed pseudo first-order kinetic model, with the rate constant of 0.12 min−1, and the mineralization of SMX achieved 48.4%. Sulfate radicals dominated in the SMX degradation. In addition to Fe0 and Fe3O4, carbon defects, graphitic N, sulfur and FeN4 also contributed to PMS activation. Fe0 oxidation was the rate-limiting step for PMS activation. Dissolved oxygen made a minor contribution to Fe0 oxidation. The intermediate products of SMX degradation were identified, and two pathways of SMX degradation were proposed. The influencing factors on SMX degradation were studied, including pH, temperature, PMS concentration, Fe0@Fe3O4-MC dosage, chloridion, carbonate and humic acids, and the influencing mechanism was discussed. This study could provide an efficient PMS activator for the degradation of emerging organic pollutants in water and wastewater.

Cysteamine derived N/S co-doped carbon dots for fluorescence imaging of pathogenic bacteria and human buccal epithelial cells

Here, we report cysteamine derived nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon dots (Cy@CD) for imaging pathogenic bacteria and human buccal epithelial cells. The Cy@CD was synthesized using one-step simple microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis with precursors, namely, cysteamine and 50X TAE buffer. The spectroscopic characterization of Cy@CD showed (λex/λem) at 350/434 nm with a decent quantum yield of 13.2%. Cy@CD was deployed in tagging bacterial cells such as E. coli, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and B. subtilis and human buccal epithelial cells. The multicolour emissive Cy@CD tagged microbial cells were also cross-validated by fluorometry analysis. The fluorescent Cy@CD could be used as an ideal substitute for the harmful synthetic fluorescent stain in cell imaging applications.

Carbon Dots Evoked Li Ion Dynamics for Solid State Battery

Solid composite electrolyte-based Li battery is viewed as one of the most competitive system for the next generation batteries; however, it is still restricted by sluggish ion diffusion. Fast ion transport is a characteristic of the polyethylene oxide (PEO) amorphous phase, and the mobility of Li+ is restrained by the coordination interaction within PEO and Li+ . Herein, the design of applying functionalized carbon dots (CDs) with abundant surface features as fillers is proposed. High ionic conductivity is achieved in the CD-based composite electrolytes resulting from enhanced ion migration ability of polymer segments and mobility of Li+ . Specially, the optimum effect with nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon dots (NS-CD) is a consequence of strong interaction between edge-nitrogen/sulfur in NS-CD and Li+ . Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance results confirm that more mobile Li+ is generated. Moreover, it is observed that lithium dendrite is suppressed compared to PEO electrolyte associated with reinforced mechanical properties and high transference number. The corresponding all-solid-state batteries, with the cathode of LiFePO4 or high voltage NCM523, exhibit long cycling life and excellent rate performances. It is a novel strategy to achieve high ionic conductivity composite electrolyte with uniform lithium deposition and provides a new direction to the mechanism of fast Li+ movement.

Nitrogen and Oxygen Codoped Carbon Anode Fabricated Facilely from Polyaniline Coated Cellulose Nanocrystals for High-Performance Li-Ion Batteries

A facile approach was developed to fabricate nitrogen/oxygen (N/O) codoped carbon anodes by direct carbonization of cellulose nanocrystal/polyaniline (CNC/PANi) nanocomposites which were prepared by in situ growth of PANi onto CNCs. The carbonized CNC/PANi (c-CNC/PANi) anode delivered a high reversible capacity of 470 mAh g–1 at 200 mA g–1 over 100 cycles, which was almost two times higher than those for c-CNC. Moreover, it presented a better rate performance and higher Li-ion diffusion coefficient than c-CNC and c-PANi anodes. The c-CNC/PANi anode also exhibited a distinguished cycling stability with high Coulombic efficiency around 100% at a high current density of 1000 mA g–1 even after 2000 cycles. The significant improvement in the electrochemical performance should be attributed to the larger specific area and uniform N/O dual heteroatoms codoping which can provide sufficient active sites for Li ions storage and induce superior diffusion kinetics of Li ions. This work provided a facile strategy to fabricate N/O codoping carbon derived from the renewable resource of CNC, and it is expected to be a promising candidate anode material for Li-ion batteries application.

Mott-Schottky heterojunction of Co/Co2P with built-in electric fields for bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysis and zinc-air battery

In this contribution, a high-performance bifunctional electrocatalyst composed of Co/Co2P nanoparticles encapsulated in nitrogen and phosphorus co-doped carbon nanotubes (NPCNTs) has been synthesized via a mechanochemistry-pyrolysis approach. The Schottky effect of metal-semiconductor heterojunction affords a built-in electric field at the interfaces to enhance electron transport, whereas the intertwined structure of one-dimensional (1D) NPCNTs facilitates the mass transfer of reactants and intermediates. Therefore, the as-prepared Co/Co2P@NPCNTs catalyst exhibits outstanding bifunctional ORR/OER activities, which are superior to those of commercial Pt/C and RuO2. It can also deliver a high power density and cycling life when used as the cathode for rechargeable ZABs. Theoretical calculation confirms that the spontaneous electron transport from Co to Co2P enables an up-shifted d-band center of Co/Co2P heterojunctions, which is beneficial for the intermediate adsorption in electrocatalytic process.

A label-free fluorescence nanosensor based on nitrogen and phosphorus co-doped carbon quantum dots for ultra-sensitive detection of new coccine in food samples

In this paper, an innovative method for the sensitive detection of new coccine using N, P-doped carbon quantum dots (N,P-CQDs) as fluorescent nanosensor is reported for the first time. The sensing mechanism is based on the fluorescence quenching of N,P-CQDs by new coccine through inner filter effect (IFE). N,P-CQDs were prepared by simple hydrothermal treatment of citric acid, phosphoric acid and ethylenediamine. Under the optimal conditions, the new coccine has two good linear responses in the concentration range of 0.2–100 and 100–200 μM, and the detection limits are as low as 24.8 and 9.4 nM, respectively. Our developed nanosensor has been successfully used for the determination of new coccine in food samples with good precision and high accuracy. This work highlights the economic, rapid, simple, selective and ultra-sensitive for new coccine detection, and opens up a new way for the monitoring of new coccine in actual food samples.

Surface Engineering of Carbon via Coupled Porosity Tuning and Heteroatom‐Doping for High‐Performance Flexible Fibrous Supercapacitors

AbstractFlexible fibrous supercapacitors (FFS) are considered the next‐generation wearable energy storage devices because they provide reliable safety, eco‐friendliness, and high power density. In particular, the FFS is desirable for application to wearable electronics because it can overcome disadvantages of the lithium‐ion battery (LIB), such as the hazard of explosion and the complex manufacturing process. Nevertheless, the practical application of the FFS continues to be inhibited by the poor energy storage performance due to the limited specific surface area, poor electrical properties, and low wettability of the carbon fiber electrode. Herein, for the first time, the surface engineering of an FFS using nitrogen and fluorine codoped mesoporous carbon fibers (FFS‐NFMCF) is described, and the synergistic effect of porosity tuning and heteroatom codoping upon the electrochemical performance is demonstrated. The resultant supercapacitor shows a high specific capacitance of 243.9 mF cm−2 at a current density of 10.0 µA cm−2 and good ultrafast cycling stability with capacitance retention of 91.3% for up to 10 000 cycles at a current density of 250.0 µA cm−2. More interestingly, the FFS‐NFMCF exhibits good mechanical properties and remarkable safety in practical application, thus demonstrating its feasibility for use in wearable electronic textiles.

Multifunctional Biomedical Applications of Nitrogen and Sulfur Co-Doped Carbon Dots.

Multifunctional carbon dots have drawn considerable attention due to their potential biomedical application value. We report the preparation of blue-green fluorescence-emitting, multifunctional, nitrogen-and-sulfur co-doped carbon dots (N, S-CDs) synthesized via a one-step process using 1-thioglycerol as a sulfur source, glucose and citric acid as carbon sources, and polyethyleneimine as a nitrogen source. Because of abundant amino and sulfur content, the CDs exhibited high sensibility and selectivity for detecting Cu2+ (detection limit: 0.01 μM, linear range: 0.025 to 50 μM). Fast and sensitive detection of tiopronin was also achieved on the basis of the fluorescence "off-on" mode considering the strong affinity between tiopronin and Cu2+. The N, S-CDs exhibited good biocompatibility as determined by fluorescence imaging using onion epidermal cells and gram-positive bacteria. The CDs also exhibited excellent antimicrobial ability against the gram-positive bacteria. Our results indicate that these novel N, S-CDs could be ideal candidates for several biochemical applications such as antibacterial treatment and detection of small biomolecules.

Synthesis of nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbons with chemical blowing method for CO2 adsorption

Heteroatom doped carbons have attracted great attentions as CO2 adsorbents. Herein, we presented a novel and facile strategy for the synthesis of nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbons (NSCDCs) with chemical blowing method. Chitosan was used as the carbon and nitrogen source, and hydroquinonesulfonic acid potassium salt (HAPS) was used as the sulfur source and blowing agent. NSCDC with hierarchically porous structure was obtained after one-step carbonization of chitosan and HAPS mixture. The carbon exhibited surface area up to 1645 m2/g. HAPS promoted the formation of mesopores and macropores in the carbon. The nitrogen and sulfur contents were 2.54–2.62 and 1.63–6.70 at.%, respectively. NSCDC was also successfully synthesized by replacing chitosan with glucosamine hydrochloride derived hydrochar. The CO2 adsorption performances of NSCDCs were studied with pressure up to 20 bar. At 25 °C, the best CO2 uptakes at 1 bar and 20 bar were 2.4 and 12.9 mmol/g, respectively. At 1 bar, the carbon’s microporous structure was the most important factor; at 20 bar, the uptake was mainly decided by the total surface area and the pore volume of the carbon.

N, P co-doped core/shell porous carbon as a highly efficient peroxymonosulfate activator for phenol degradation

A nitrogen and phosphorus co-doped metal-free porous carbon (NPC) with core/shell structure was successfully synthesized by pyrolysis of ZIF-8@phytic acid (PA) and demonstrated outstanding catalytic performance on PMS activation for the degradation of phenol (98.0% within 30 min at pH = 7.0). Results suggested that optimized N-P co-doping strategy played a synergistic effect in promoting the catalytic activity of NPC. In addition, NPC displayed excellent acid-base tolerance (pH = 3.0–10.0) and insensitive to anions (Cl−, HCO3– and H2PO4−) and humic acid when employed as PMS activator for phenol degradation. Based on quenching tests, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements and electrochemical analysis, singlet oxygen (1O2) is the key active specie and the surface-bound sulfate radical (SO4−) plays an auxiliary role in the removal of phenol in NPC/PMS system while surface electron transfer is also a non-radical pathway. Large BET specific surface areas (SSA), total pore volumes (TPV) and hierarchical porous structure are beneficial to expose more active sites (essentially graphite N and CO) for generating 1O2 and surface-bound SO4− to enhance catalytic performance of NPC. This work opens up a new way for the synthesis of highly efficient N-P co-doped metal-free PMS activators and provides novel insights into the mechanism of PMS activation by NPC.

Nitrogen and Sulfur Co-doped Carbon Dots Enhance Drought Resistance in Tomato and Mung Beans.

Drought stress is widespread worldwide, which severely restricts world food production. The antioxidant property of carbon dots (CDs) is promising for inflammation and disease treatment. However, little is known about the functions of CDs in the abiotic stress of plants, especially in drought-resistant fields. In this study, CDs were synthesized using cysteine and glucose by the hydrothermal method. The in vitro antioxidant capacity of CDs and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging capacity were evaluated. We speculate on the antioxidant mechanism of CDs by comparing size distribution, fluorescence spectra, elements, and surface functional groups of CDs before and after oxidation. Besides, we evaluated the effects of CDs on seed germination and seedling physiology under drought stress. Also, the responses of antioxidant CDs to long-term drought stress and subsequent recovery metabolism in tomato plants were evaluated. The results show that CDs accelerated the germination rate and the germination drought resistance index by promoting the water absorption of seeds. CDs enhanced the drought resistance of seedlings by improving the activity of peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Moreover, CDs can activate the antioxidant metabolism activity and upregulate the expression of aquaporin (AQP) genes SlPIP2;7, SlPIP2;12, and SlPIP1;7. All of these results render tomato plants distinguished resilience once rewatering after drought stress. These results facilitate us to design and fabricate CDs to meet the challenge of abiotic stress in food production.

A Highly Sensitive and Selective Probe for the Colorimetric Detection of Mn(II) Based on the Antioxidative Selenium and Nitrogen Co-Doped Carbon Quantum Dots and ABTS•.

Herein, selenium and nitrogen co-doped carbon quantum dots (Se/N-CQDs) were hydrothermally synthesized by using citric acid, histidine, and sodium selenite, which had sp3 and sp2 hybridized carbon atoms and showed excitation-dependent fluorescence behavior. Furthermore, due to the redox reaction of ABTS•+ and Se/N-CQDs, Se/N-CQDs had the excellent antioxidant capacity that it was demonstrated by scavenging ABTS•+ with the fading of blue. Based on the synergistic effect of Se/N-CQDs and Mn(II) on ABTS•+, Se/N-CQDs and ABTS•+, as a stable, sensitive, selective, and reproducible colorimetric sensor, was applied to the detection of Mn(II) with a detection limit of 1.69 μM and a linear range of 0 to 142.90 μM. More importantly, the probe was successfully applied to detecting Mn(II) in tap water, illustrating that it could be a promising tool for Mn(II) detection in water environments.

Fe–nitrogen–doped carbon with dual active sites for efficient degradation of aromatic pollutants via peroxymonosulfate activation

Fenton-like catalysis has received much attention as the promising technology for organic pollutant degradation, whereas it suffers from low atomic utilization, poor catalysts durability and difficult after-treatment to hamper the catalytic oxidation activity. Herein, a Fe– and nitrogen-codoped carbon (Fe–N–C) originated from nanocellulose-based hydrochar, nitrogen source, and iron salt precursor was developed for improved PMS activation and identification of exclusive role of each species. The catalyst formed with interconnected bamboo-shaped 3D tubular structures and high Fe-doping level (up to ~9.0 wt%) not only realized excellent efficiencies in oxidative degradation of various aromatic pollutants, but was also endowed with high durability and stability toward PMS activation. Compared with that of the control catalysts only comprising either C–N network or supported Fe nanoparticles (Fe–C) with FeIV–oxo complex sites, the co-existent active sites of Fe–N configuration and atomic Fe cluster in Fe–N–C could simultaneously improve the graphitization degree, and act as a “support” for constructing the stable structure. It is likely that the coordinated Fe–N formed with annealing process is devoted to decompose PMS by radical generation for pollutants degradation via a radical oxidation process; while the enhanced C–N bonded with graphitic N contribute to produce 1O2 through the nonradical processes interacted with PMS. This Fe–N–C/PMS-coupled process provided a designed strategy to construct the highly active and stable metal-nitrogen-codoped hydrothermal carbons, and deepened insights on structure-activity-stability relationship for persulfate-based environmental remediation.

Synthesis and Characterization of Cobalt and Nitrogen Co-Doped Peat-Derived Carbon Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction in Acidic Media

In this study, several peat-derived carbons (PDC) were synthesized using various carbonization protocols. It was found that depending on the carbonization method, carbons with very different surface morphologies, elemental compositions, porosities, and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activities were obtained. Five carbons were used as carbon supports to synthesize Co-N/PDC catalysts, and five different ORR catalysts were acquired. The surface analysis revealed that a higher nitrogen content, number of surface oxide defects, and higher specific surface area lead to higher ORR activity of the Co-N/PDC catalysts in acidic solution. The catalyst Co-N/C-2(ZnCl2), which was synthesized from ZnCl2-activated and pyrolyzed peat, showed the highest ORR activity in both rotating disk electrode and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell tests. A maximum power density value of 210 mW cm−2 has been obtained. The results of this study indicate that PDCs are promising candidates for the synthesis of active non-platinum group metal type catalysts.

Biomass-derived precious metal-free porous carbon: Ca-N,P-doped carbon materials and its electrocatalytic properties

The search for non-noble metal catalysts drive from biomass materials for oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) is highly desirable but challenging. Here, we have designed and synthesized three-dimensional hierarchical porous Ca-modified nitrogen and phosphorus co-doped carbon materials (Ca@NP6C4) derived from biomass hydrogel. Notably, the resulting Ca@NP6C4 material has high content of nitrogen (29.71 wt%)，and relatively high content percentage of pyridinic and graphitic nitrogen. As an efficient non-noble metal electrocatalyst, Ca@NP6C4 exhibits a high onset potential (0.94 V vs RHE) and a four-electron pathway for oxygen reduction reaction as well as good durability and outstanding methanol poisoning tolerance. Besides, it also performs as a good support for Pt particles (NPs). Pt/Ca@NP6C4 catalyst displayed remarkable catalytic performance and high stability for methanol electrooxidation reaction in acid medium. This work provides a feasible approach to develop cost-effective and highly efficient non-precious metal electrochemical catalysts for oxygen reduction.

Preparation and Application of Sulfur and Nitrogen Co-doped Carbon Quantum Dots

Preparation and Application of Sulfur and Nitrogen Co-doped Carbon Quantum Dots

Transition Metal Oxides Anchored Onto Co-Doped Carbon Nanotubes As Bifunctional Electrocatalysts

It has been well established that rechargeable zinc-air batteries (ZABs) are safe, environmentally friendly, and have a high theoretical energy density, making them a promising battery technology. Like many technologies there are challenges that need to be overcome. The main setback for ZABs is the slow reaction kinetics for the oxygen reduction reaction and the oxygen evolution reaction (ORR/OER) at the air electrode. Traditionally, adding precious metal catalysts to the air electrode, like Pt/Ru, will improve the reaction kinetics. However, precious metal catalysts are expensive and unstable during cycling of the discharge and charge reactions. Transition metal oxides combined with nanocarbon materials have been shown to improve the ORR and OER kinetics while staying cost effective [1], [2]. Heteroatom doping, e.g. -N, -B, and -S, of carbon materials has the ability to improve ORR performance [3]. When co-doping carbon nanotubes with sulfur and nitrogen, sulfur has the ability to replace the carbon atoms easily, creating more active sites for catalyst material [3], [4].The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects that co-doping of carbon nanotubes with nitrogen and sulfur combined with transition metal oxides have on the reaction kinetics at the air electrode. Impregnating the combined transition metal oxides and N,S co-doped CNTs into a gas diffusion layer (GDL) made of porous carbon ensures that the catalyst is deposited throughout the GDL [2]. Previous work has been done on Zn- and Ni-based tri-metallic and tetra-metallic oxides with N-CNTs. Nickel-based oxides had high efficiency, while the Zn-based tetra-metallic oxides demonstrated poor ORR performance leading to poor overall efficiency. Based on the literature, it is predicted that using N,S-CNTs with tri-metallic and tetra-metallic oxides will improve ORR performance. Various electrochemical and microstructural characterization techniques; e.g., linear sweep voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, will be used to examine each sample. The goal of this work is to improve the ORR performance of previously studied tri-metallic and tetra-metallic oxides and improve the cyclability of ZABs.[1] N. Xu et al., “Self-Assembly formation of Bi-functional Co 3 O 4 /MnO 2-CNTs hybrid catalysts for achieving both high energy/power density and cyclic ability of rechargeable zinc-Air battery,” Sci. Rep., vol. 6, no. September, pp. 1–10, 2016.[2] D. Aasen, M. Clark, and D. G. Ivey, “ A Gas Diffusion Layer Impregnated with Mn 3 O 4 ‐Decorated N‐Doped Carbon Nanotubes for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Zinc‐Air Batteries ,” Batter. Supercaps, vol. 2, no. 10, pp. 882–893, 2019.[3] I. M. Patil, V. Reddy, M. Lokanathan, and B. Kakade, “Nitrogen and sulphur co-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes as an efficient electrocatalyst for improved oxygen electroreduction,” Appl. Surf. Sci., vol. 449, pp. 697–704, 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2017.12.124.[4] J. Wang et al., “Nitrogen and Sulfur Co-Doping of Partially Exfoliated MWCNTs as 3-D Structured Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction,” J. Mater. Chem. A, vol. 4, no. 15, pp. 5678–5684, 2016, doi: 10.1039/c6ta00490c.

Hollow hierarchical zinc cobalt sulfides derived from bimetallic-organic-framework as a non-precious electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract Herein, pyrolysis strategy assisted by a dual-metal-ZIF is developed to synthesize porous zinc cobalt sulfide supported on nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon (Zn-Co-S@NSC). A dodecahedral ZIF architecture is first constructed with two metal sources, followed by a pyrolysis process with thiourea to obtain hollow composite materials consisting of Zn-Co sulfide uniformly dispersed on nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon. Benefitting from the distinctive structure and synergistic effect of the binary metal system, the as-prepared Zn-Co-S@NSC displays excellent electrocatalytic performance on ORR in alkaline condition. The superior performances, which are evaluated in terms of onset-potential (0.955 V vs. RHE) and half-wave potential (0.831 V vs. RHE), are comparable to the conventional Pt/C catalyst. In addition, Zn-Co-S@NSC exhibits remarkable electrochemical durability and exceptional methanol tolerance compared to the commercial Pt/C. The DFT calculations further demonstrate that the binary metal system can promote electrocatalytic activity by optimizing the reaction free energy for intermediates of ORR.

Flexible electrospun nanofibrous film integrated with fluorescent carbon dots for smartphone-based detection and cellular imaging application

The dose of administered chemotherapy drugs is crucial to determine due to the potential for efficient or adverse outcomes for cancer patients. To date, no user-friendly and low-cost method of doxorubicin (DOX) detection using nontoxic and biodegradable materials has been reported. For this reason, in this work, we have developed for the first time a nanofiber-based sensing platform for sensitive and on-site DOX assay in just 10 min. This is obtained thanks to printable, porosity and embeddability features of electrospun nanofibrous films (ENFFs) combined with nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon dots (NS-CDs) as sensing probes. The assay was done by just pipetting analyte on the hydrophilic spots of the fabricated photoluminescence water-stable ENFFs where the color intensity was being darkened. DOX quenched NS-CDs fluorescence onto ENFFs through inner filter effect. The developed sensor was either coupled with smartphone technology to provide miniaturized, portable and easy-to-use device or an ordinary spectrofluorimeter for solid-state sensing applications (detection limit of 5.4 nM). Moreover, applicability of the designed sensor was evaluated in human serum with satisfactory recoveries. It is more interesting that the fabricated NS-CDs/ENF scaffolds have a high potential to detect the intracellular DOX to enhance cell proliferation leading to be considered as a multimodal tool in biomedical research and clinical diagnostics.

Hazardous Petroleum Sludge-Derived Nitrogen and Oxygen Co-Doped Carbon Material with Hierarchical Porous Structure for High-Performance All-Solid-State Supercapacitors.

Rational design and sustainable preparation of high-performance carbonaceous electrode materials are important to the practical application of supercapacitors. In this work, a cost-effective synthesis strategy for nitrogen and oxygen co-doped porous carbon (NOC) from petroleum sludge waste was developed. The hierarchical porous structure and ultra-high surface area (2514.7 m2 g−1) of NOC electrode materials could provide an efficient transport path and capacitance active site for electrolyte ions. The uniform co-doping of N and O heteroatoms brought enhanced wettability, electrical conductivity and probably additional pseudo-capacitance. The as-obtained NOC electrodes exhibited a high specific capacitance (441.2 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1), outstanding rate capability, and cycling performance with inconspicuous capacitance loss after 10,000 cycles. Further, the assembled all-solid-state MnO2/NOC asymmetrical supercapacitor device (ASC) could deliver an excellent capacitance of 119.3 F g−1 at 0.2 A g−1 under a wide potential operation window of 0–1.8 V with flexible mechanical stability. This ASC device yielded a superior energy density of 53.7 W h kg−1 at a power density of 180 W kg−1 and a reasonable cycling life. Overall, this sustainable, low-cost and waste-derived porous carbon electrode material might be widely used in the field of energy storage, now and into the foreseeable future.