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Supercapacitors, with high energy density, rapid charge–discharge capabilities, and long cycling ability, have gained favor among many researchers. However, the universality of high-performance carbon-based electrodes is often constrained by their complex fabrication methods. In this study, the common industrial materials, zinc gluconate and ammonium chloride, are uniformly mixed and subjected to a one-step carbonization strategy to prepare three-dimensional hierarchical porous carbon materials with high specific surface area and suitable nitrogen doping. The results show that a specific capacitance of 221 F g−1 is achieved at a current density of 1 A g−1. The assembled symmetrical supercapacitor achieves a high energy density of 17 Wh kg−1, and after 50,000 cycles at a current density of 50 A g−1, it retains 82% of its initial capacitance. Moreover, the operating voltage window of the symmetrical device can be easily expanded to 2.5 V when using Et4NBF4 as the electrolyte, resulting in a maximum energy density of up to 153 Wh kg−1, and retaining 85.03% of the initial specific capacitance after 10,000 cycles. This method, using common industrial materials as raw materials, provides ideas for the simple preparation of high-performance carbon materials and also provides a promising method for the large-scale production of highly porous carbons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multichannel-porous carbon derived from wood can serve as a conductive substrate for fast charge transfer and ion diffusion, supporting the high-theory capacitance of pseudocapacitive materials. Herein, NiCo2O4 nanosheets, which are hierarchically porous, anchored on the surface of carbonized wood via electrodeposition for free-binder high-performance supercapacitor electrode materials, were proposed. Benefiting from the effectively alleviated NiCo2O4 nanosheets accumulation and sufficient active surface area for redox reaction, a N-doped wood-derived porous carbon-NiCo2O4 nanosheet hybrid material (NCNS–NCW) electrode exhibited a specific electric capacity of 1730 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 in 1 mol L−1 KOH and splendid electrochemical firmness with 80% capacitance retention after cycles. Furthermore, an all-wood-based asymmetric supercapacitor based on NCNS–NCW//NCW was assembled and a high energy density of 56.1 Wh kg−1 at a watt density of 349 W kg−1 was achieved. Due to the great electrochemical performance of NCNS–NCW, we expect it to be used as an electrode material with great promise for energy storage equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is an effective way to develop basswood (Tilia americana, hardwood)-derived thick carbon electrode for high energy density supercapacitors. The wood-derived anisotropic structural carbon electrodes have different transfer kinetics of the electrolyte, which will significantly affect the electrochemical performance especially at high current density. Therefore, the relationship between the sectional wood-derived electrodes and the electrochemical performance of supercapacitors were systematically studied. The results show that the high specific surface area (542 m2 g−1) of cross-sectional wood-derived carbon contributes to the excellent electrochemical performance (specific/area capacitance ~ 3040 mF cm−2/118 F g−1 at 1 mA cm−2, cycle stability ~ 82.2% after 10,000 cycles at 50 mA cm−2, and capacitive contribution of 76.64% at 5 mV s−1), which is attributed to the hierarchical porous structure and easily allows electrolytes to enter the interior even at high current density. This work provides a fundamental understanding of the dynamic behaviors of electrolyte at different wood sections, and it is expected to be extended to other wood species and wood-like structures for energy storage applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass-derived heteroatom doped porous carbon is a hot electrode material for supercapacitors. Herein, nitrogen and oxygen co-doped porous carbon sheets are prepared by one-step carbonization-activation of hybrids of soybean protein isolate and zinc chloride (ZnCl2). The effect of the mass ratio between the activator and carbon precursor on the microstructure as well as the electrochemical performance of the materials is investigated. The activated samples show enhanced specific surface area, preferably up to 1034.33 m2 g−1, which is dominated by micropores and mesopores. More interestingly, ZnCl2 incorporation can improve the doping rate of nitrogen and oxygen elements from 4.5 at% to 6.37 at%, and 12.89 at% to 13.58 at%, respectively. Ultimately, the porous carbon sheets exhibit good capacitive performance in 6 M KOH electrolyte, and the specific capacitance could reach 210.47 F g−1 in a three-electrode system. In a two-electrode system, a capacitance retention of 93.02% can be achieved after 10 000 cycles at 20 A g−1. In addition, the optimized sample shows a maximum energy density of 16.27 W h kg−1 and a maximum power density of 8.44 kW kg−1. This work indicates that the soybean protein-derived porous carbon sheets are promising electrode materials for supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Designing intertwined porous structure is highly desirable to improve the electrochemical performance of carbon materials for supercapacitor. In this contribution, three-dimensional (3D) carbonized polyimide/cellulose (CPC) composite is fabricated via a facile "one-step" carbonization, in which cellulose as cross-linked agent is capable of modulating the molecular structure of polyamic acid, thus ensuring the formation of intertwined porous networks in the obtained carbon skeleton. Benefitting from the high specific surface area (951 m2 g−1) and uniformly distributed pores, the optimized CPC-5 electrode exhibits an outstanding specific capacitance of 300F g−1 in 6.0 M KOH electrolyte. More impressively, the CPC-5 based symmetrical supercapacitor affords a high energy density of 22.6 Wh kg−1 at power density of 800 W kg−1, as well as an exceptional capacitance retention of 91.4% after 10,000 cycles. This work affords an effective strategy to yield a promising polyimide derived carbon material for high-performance supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Self-supporting tree skeleton and densely stackable phenolic resin are cleverly coupled together by a "rebar-concrete" structure. The thick electrode as a master of space utilization has extremely high areal and volumetric energy density. This work confirms the effective coupling of the self-supporting skeleton and powder materials, providing novel ideas for the preparation of thick electrodes with high mass loading. • A "rebar-concrete" structure is proposed to facilitate the high space utilization of thick electrodes. • The areal capacitance of the thick electrode reaches an astonishing 11F cm−2. • The assembled SSC device delivers competitive areal energy density of 0.63 mWh cm−2. The thick electrode design with high packing density of active materials can increase the capacity in a limited space. However, the key challenge is still to develop a system with high space utilization and ensure electron/ion transport in thick electrode. This work proposes an interesting "rebar-concrete" structure, which successfully prepared wood/phenolic resin-derived thick electrode with high space utilization by in-situ polymerization of phenolic resin (concrete) in the wood (rebar) channel. The electrode exhibits an excellent three-dimensional interconnected hierarchical pore structure due to the uniform activation of in-situ anchored KOH particles. The mass loading (35 mg cm−2) and areal capacitance (11F cm−2) of the obtained composite electrode are increased to 446 % and 1257 % of the original balsa wood, respectively. The assembled symmetric supercapacitor (SSC) exhibits a high energy density of 0.63 mWh cm−2 (3.91 mWh cm−3) and an excellent cycle stability (95 % retention after 50 000 cycles), showing good practicability in lighting LEDs or driving a fan. This strategy achieves effective coupling of self-supporting skeleton and powder materials, providing more insights and possibilities for the preparation of high energy density thick electrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flax fibers, with abundant resources and a low cost, are an excellent precursor of carbon fibers for supercapacitors. At present, they are very attractive for designing electrodes with high electrochemical performance via a simple and green way. Hence, we systemically control the specific surface area and pore structure of flax-based carbon fibers by impregnating them with zinc chloride (ZnCl2) solution. The results show that the dehydration and expansion effects of ZnCl2 affect the microstructure, which is directly related to the specific capacitance. After activation, the optimized electrode exhibited the highest specific capacitance of 105 F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1, which has been improved by more than 10 times compared to that of pure-flax based carbon fibers. Moreover, they also show an excellent cycling stability of 98.7% after 10 000 cycles, even at a high current density of 10 A g−1. These results further demonstrate that flax-based electrodes have potential to be applied to some relevant energy storage applications in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased energy consumption stimulates the development of various energy types. As a result, the storage of these different types of energy becomes a key issue. Supercapacitors, as one important energy storage device, have gained much attention and owned a wide range of applications by taking advantages of micro-size, lightweight, high power density and long cycle life. From this perspective, numerous studies, especially on electrode materials, have been reported and great progress in the advancement in both the fundamental and applied fields of supercapacitor has been achieved. Herein, a review of recent progress in carbon materials for supercapacitor electrodes is presented. First, the two mechanisms of supercapacitors are briefly introduced. Then, research on carbon-based material electrodes for supercapacitor in recent years is summarized, including different dimensional carbon-based materials and biomass-derived carbon materials. The characteristics and fabrication methods of these materials and their performance as capacitor electrodes are discussed. On the basis of these materials, many supercapacitor devices have been developed. Therefore, in the third part, the supercapacitor devices based on these carbon materials are summarized. A brief overview of two types of conventional supercapacitor according to the charge storage mechanism is compiled, including their development process, the merits or withdraws, and the principle of expanding the potential range. Additionally, another fast-developed capacitor, hybrid ion capacitors as a good compromise between battery and supercapacitor are also discussed. Finally, the future aspects and challenges on the carbon-based materials as supercapacitor electrodes are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Polyformamide-derived carbon nanowire arrays are in-situ synthesized as N-containing carbon coatings for cellulose-based carbon fibers. • The green H 2 O 2 solution acts as both dopant and activator. • The assembled solid-state symmetric supercapacitor yields encouraging capacitive properties. • This work paves a cost-effective and universal avenue toward structural and compositional engineering of electrodes in energy-related devices. Free-standing porous carbon have risen to prominent electrode materials for high-rate solid-state supercapacitors, yet they are still plagued by uneconomical petrochemical feedstocks, tedious slurry-casting processes, and suboptimal performance. Herein, a dual‐strategy of combining free-standing nitrogen-doped carbon nanowire array coating and pore engineering is designed to boost the performance of cellulose-derived carbon electrodes. Polyformamide-derived carbon nanowire arrays are in-situ synthesized as N-containing carbon coatings for cellulose-based carbon fibers. More intriguingly, H 2 O 2 activation further enhances the hierarchical porous structure. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of free-standing feature, high electrolyte compatibility, interconnected conductive fiber networks, well-developed hierarchical porous structure and stable heteroatom-doped carbon coatings, the designed electrodes possess high accessibility of electrolyte ions and effective ion/electron transport channels. Thus, the specific capacitance reaches 275.6 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 for aqueous supercapacitor. The solid-state symmetric supercapacitor demonstrates the specific capacitance of 126.5 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 with the capacitance retention of 64.5% even when the current densities increased by 40-folds. Their promising energy density (17.5 Wh kg−1) and power density (12.3 kW kg−1) closing to the state-of-the-art biomass-derived free-standing solid-state symmetric supercapacitors. This breakthrough symbolizes a step forward in the advancement of biomass as high‐performance electrodes for supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free-standing carbon nanofibrous membranes are prepared by carbonization and H 2 O 2 activation of electrospun polyimide nanofibrous membranes. The green and facile H 2 O 2 activation method not only regulates the pore structure of carbon nanofibers but also introduces rich oxygen species, rendering a hierarchically porous and heteroatom-doped carbon electrode for supercapacitors. The optimal electrode (PI800-8) shows a high specific capacitance of 339.9 F g−1 (0.5 A g−1, 6 M KOH electrolyte) and excellent cycle durability with a capacitance retention of 98.4 % after 50,000 cycles (5 A g−1). Particularly, a non-aqueous symmetric supercapacitor assembled with 1 M Et 4 NBF 4 electrolyte shows a high operating voltage of 2.8 V, and delivers the maximum energy/power density of 37.3 Wh kg−1 and 28.0 kW kg−1, respectively. The H 2 O 2 activation method provides a green, efficient, and versatile strategy to improve the pore properties and chemical compositions of porous carbon materials towards energy applications. [Display omitted] • The N/O-codoped carbon nanofibrous membranes were prepared by commercial electrospun polyimide nanofibrous membranes. • The green H 2 O 2 activation was proposed to ameliorate the pore and chemical properties of carbon nanofibrous membranes. • Excellent comprehensive performance was presented for both aqueous/non-aqueous symmetric supercapacitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical porous carbon-based electrodes, benefiting from their facilitated ion diffusion and electron conduction, have demonstrated enormous potential in supercapacitors. The preparation of hierarchical carbons with uniformity and appropriate porosity, however, still remains a grand challenge, which hinders their widespread applications. Herein, a hierarchical porous polyimide-derived carbon electrode (CPC-Fe/Zn) has been fabricated by employing bimetallic salts (Fe/Zn) as precursor and template to activate the cellulose/polyimide (PI) carbon (CPC). Originating from suitable distribution of mesopores and micropores, the obtained CPC-Fe/Zn delivers a high specific capacitance of 420 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g. Moreover, a symmetric supercapacitor device assembled with CPC-Fe/Zn exhibits delivers an energy density of 35.5 Wh/kg at a power density of 800 W/kg. Even at a larger current density of 20 A/g, the specific capacitance retention of such device still remains 92.5 % after 10,000 cycles, showing the rate performance and stability. This work has proposed a bimetallic salts template-assisted strategy to precisely modulate of the pore structure of carbon electrodes, which provides a promising platform to design superior electrodes for various electrochemical systems. [Display omitted] • The hierarchically porous structure of the material can be modulated precisely. • The symmetric supercapacitor exhibited a remarkable energy density of 35.5 Wh/kg @ 1000 W/kg. • The specific capacitance retention of symmetric supercapacitor reached 92.5 % after 10,000 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable cellulose-based papers are considered as a good resource for energy storage devices owing to their interlaced microfibrillar structure and high electrolyte absorptivity. Herein, an all-cellulose-based solid-state high-rate supercapacitor assembled with cellulose paper-derived self-supporting porous carbon electrodes and filter paper separator is designed. Benefiting from ingenious surface chemistry and pore structure engineering, the electrodes possess interconnected network structure, hierarchical pores, and appropriate N/O doping levels. The electrode demonstrates high specific capacitance (222.2 F g−1 at 0.2 A g−1), prominent rate capability (120.1 F g−1 at 100 A g−1), and outstanding cyclic stability (98.7 % capacitance retention after 20,000 cycles at 80 A g−1), which surpass most of cellulose-based self-supporting carbon electrodes ever reported. By integrating the well-designed electrodes with a piece of filter paper separator, the assembled symmetric solid-state supercapacitor (1.2 V) achieves an encouraging specific capacitance of 115.0 F g−1 along with an impressive energy density of 22.9 Wh kg−1 and a maximum power density of 15.9 kW kg−1. Moreover, the symmetric supercapacitor with 1 M Et 4 NBF 4 organic electrolyte (3 V) delivered a maximum energy density and power density of 62.5 Wh kg−1 and 54.9 kW kg−1, respectively. This study proposes a design concept of all-cellulose-based solid-state supercapacitors, which presents a promising direction toward environmentally friendly and sustainable energy storage technology. [Display omitted] • A facile solvothermal reaction and carbonization/activation route was proposed to tailor pore and surface characteristics. • All-cellulose-based symmetric supercapacitor was designed by integrating N/O-CP-50 electrodes and filter paper separator. • Excellent comprehensive performance was achieved for N/O-CP-50-based symmetric supercapacitor. • The typical all-cellulose-based solid-state devices balance the cost and performance of portable electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • High P-doped (9.24 at%) thick carbon electrodes (CW-P) by phytic acid treatment. • SSC exhibits high capacitance of 4.7F cm−2/206.5F g−1 at 1.0 mA cm−2. • Excellent capacitance retention of 90.5% after 20 000 cycles (@20 mA cm−2). • High energy density up to 0.94 mW h cm−2 (41.2 Wh kg−1). • High power density up to 0.6 mW cm−2 (26.3 W kg−1). Keeping outstanding electrochemical performance under high mass loading is critical to develop functional thick electrodes. Here, we report a high phosphorus-doped wood-derived carbon thick electrode for supercapacitor via phytic acid treatment, which can form hydrogen bonds with cellulose molecules in the wood. The content of phosphorus reaches up to 9.24 at% in carbonized wood with P-doping (CW-P-9.24), higher than most previously reported P-doped carbonaceous materials. CW-P-9.24 electrode (800 μm, 17.17 mg cm−2) exhibits greatly improved electrochemical performance, especially in energy density and cyclic stability. Significantly, the symmetrical supercapacitor device exhibits high areal and specific capacitance of 4.7 F cm−2 and 206.5 F g−1 at 1.0 mA cm−2 with prominent retention of 90.5% through the long-term cycling at 20 mA cm−2 for 20,000 cycles, and 0.94 mW h cm−2 (41.2 Wh kg−1) at power density of 0.6 mW cm−2 (26.3 W kg−1), and possesses excellent volumetric capacitance and energy density of 29.3 F cm−3 and 5.8 Wh cm−3, respectively. The outstanding performance can be attributed to the excellent hierarchical structure, low tortuosity, and high phosphorus doping with fast accessible channels at high current density. The extraordinary performance of CW-P has been elucidated by density functional theory calculations, which confirm the enhanced activity by P-doping. These results demonstrate that the CW-P electrode is promising for practical application in energy storage devices and encourage more investigations for thick electrode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heteroatoms-doped biomass-derived carbon materials (HBC), a new task and hotspot of the current energy research, especially supercapacitor, have featured with low cost and rich sources with enhanced physical, chemical and electrical properties compared with those of pure counterparts. Nevertheless, converting the biomass into high-performance carbon materials by green chemical activators and dopants is still imperatively needed. Herein, a simple and cost-effective one-step method was proposed, using different nitrogen-containing compounds (NH 4 Cl, (NH 4) 2 CO 3 and urea) as both activation agent and dopant, to prepare nitrogen-doped biomass-derived hierarchical porous carbon materials (HPCs). The effect of nitrogen-containing compounds on the electrochemical performance of HPCs was also studied. Among them, NH 4 Cl is proved to be the porogen with the minimum collapse of pollen grain and urea can be identified as the most effective N dopant. Furthermore, the prepared HPC-urea (HPC-U) electrode deliver the highest specific capacitance of 300 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 and rate performance of 50% from 1 to 50 A g−1 in three electrode system, while HPC-NH 4 Cl possesses the maximum capacitance retention rate of 95.2% after 10,000 cycles. In addition, HPC-U based SCs exhibits the highest energy density (14.3 Wh kg−1). Notably this work may provide a certain guideline for choosing N dopants and porogens to prepare biomass-derived carbon materials for the target application. [Display omitted] • An integrated carbonization, activation and doping process for hierarchical porous carbon. • Heteroatoms-rich camellia pollen is used as carbon precursor. • Three nitrogenous compounds is utilized as both activation agent and dopant. • NH 4 Cl is proved to be the porogen with minimum collapse of pollen grain. • Urea can be identified as the most effective N dopant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]