Exhaust gas based nanoarchitectonics for porous carbon materials for high-performance supercapacitor

The exhaust gas from pyrolysis of ZIF-67 was used as carbon precursor to prepare high-performance PC for supercapacitor electrodes by deposition in hard templates. [Display omitted] •Porous carbon with high supercapacitor performance is prepared.•Exhaust gas derived from pyrolysis of zeoliticimidazolate framework is used as carbon precursor.•Efficient utilization of exhaust gas is realized.•The microporous structure makes porous carbon have high capacitance of 445.7 F g−1 in supercapacitor. Pyrolyzing carbon precursors will also lead to a large amount of exhaust gas, which is a waste of resources and a huge pollution. Therefore, realizing the full utilization of exhaust gas from carbon precursors is significant. Herein, cobalt (Co) modified hard templates with micropores or mesopores is used to prepare porous carbon for supercapacitors, in which Co species provide the active sites for the capture and deposition of exhaust gas derived from zeoliticimidazolate framework. Using N2 as protective and carrier gas, the whole process can be realized in a simple tubular furnace. The obtained PC can replicate the morphology and pore structure of the hard template with the characteristics of micropores or mesopores respectively. The microporous structure of PC gives it higher surface area and pore volume than PC with mesopores, which makes it have high capacitance of 445.7 F g−1 in supercapacitor.