Abstract
Lignin, as a widely distributed, renewable and environmentally friendly source of carbon, could been utilized for carbon nanofibers to not only maximize the usage of resources, but also expand the energy-related opportunities. In this research, flexible lignin-based carbon nanofibers are prepared by electrospinning lignin nanofibers in a new green aqueous solution of lignin and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), which is then characterized by physical and chemical characterizations. The results reveal that optimal carbonization temperature of 800 °C shows great improvements on the structural properties of lignin-based carbon nanofibers, which can be applied as binder-free electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) electrodes with good flexibility. The 2032 type button battery has a superior electrochemical performance with a large specific capacitance of 217.2 F g−1 at a 0.2 A g−1 current density, and remarkable cyclic stability of 94.9 % capacitance retention even after 10,000 charge and discharge cycles, due to the abundance of mesoporous volume and large microporous surface area of lignin-based carbon nanofiber electrodes carbonized in 800 °C.
Acknowledgments
The authors of this article are very grateful to the State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper of South China University of Technology for providing the instruments and equipment.
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Research ethics: The authors declare that neither the full text nor part of the paper has been submitted or published elsewhere.
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Author contributions: Yunxia Wang and Pengfei Hao completed the experimental operation together, Yi Hou and Lirong Lei carried out the experimental supervision and guidance, and Wang Yunxia wrote the final article.
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Competing interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.
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Research funding: The authors are appreciative of the support of the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (2021A1515010645), and the Key Project of Research and Development Plan of Guangdong Province (2022B0202020002).
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Data availability: Not applicable.
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