Biomass Peach Gum-Derived Heteroatom-Doped Porous Carbon via In Situ Molten Salt Activation for High-Performance Supercapacitors

Biomass is an abundant, low-cost, renewable, and structurally diverse carbon-rich source, which makes it an intriguing precursor to fabricate diversified carbon materials, whereas it is difficult to control the structure and surface functionality of biomass-derived porous carbons. In this work, a strategy of utilizing in situ-formed FeCl2 as a catalyst, molten salt as a template, NH4Cl as a N source, and a chemical blowing agent to assist in activating, catalyzing, and doping the biomass precursor is proposed to fabricate heteroatom-doped porous carbon NPCFe. The as-prepared NPCFe has a large specific surface area of 1168.5 m2 g–1 with abundant micropores and a high level of N/O-doping content (8.6/7.5 atom %). The NPCFe as an electrode material has a high specific capacitance of 379 F g–1, good rate capability, and excellent cycle stability. The NPCFe-assembled symmetric supercapacitor has a high energy density of 18.9 Wh kg–1 at a power density of 325 W kg–1. This strategy of combining in situ molten salt templating and chemical blowing is promising in preparing high-performance porous carbons for supercapacitor applications.