Issue 36, 2012

Sustainable nitrogen-doped porous carbon with high surface areas prepared from gelatin for supercapacitors

Abstract

Gelatin, a renewable animal derivative composed of various proteins, was used as a precursor for nitrogen-doped porous carbon with high surface areas for supercapacitors for the first time. The preparation procedure is very simple, including the carbonization of gelatin under inert atmosphere, followed by NaOH activation of the carbonized char at 600 °C for 1 h. The porosity and surface chemistry of the carbon depend strongly on the weight ratio of NaOH/char, with the specific surface area and nitrogen content varying between 323 and 3012 m2 g−1 and between 0.88 and 9.26 at%, respectively. The unique microstructure and nitrogen functionalities enable the carbon to exhibit a high capacitance of up to 385 F g−1 in 6 mol L−1 KOH aqueous electrolytes, attributed to the co-contribution of double layer capacitance and pseudo-capacitance. It also shows excellent rate capability (235 F g−1 remained at 50 A g−1) and cycle durability, making it a promising electrode material for supercapacitors.

Graphical abstract: Sustainable nitrogen-doped porous carbon with high surface areas prepared from gelatin for supercapacitors

Additions and corrections

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 May 2012
Accepted
23 Jul 2012
First published
25 Jul 2012

J. Mater. Chem., 2012,22, 19088-19093

Sustainable nitrogen-doped porous carbon with high surface areas prepared from gelatin for supercapacitors

B. Xu, S. Hou, G. Cao, F. Wu and Y. Yang, J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 19088 DOI: 10.1039/C2JM32759G

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