Nitrogen-doped porous carbon via ammonothermal carbonization for supercapacitors

In this study we demonstrate a cheap and sustainable ammonothermal approach towards nitrogen-doped porous carbons. Sodium borate (borax) is employed as a catalyst during the synthesis resulting in the formation of small interconnected primary particles of 99%. Comparison of different pore systems indicates that a continuous pore size distribution may explain improved rate performances. A sol-gel-type ammonothermal carbonization of sugar, catalyzed by Borax was combined with physical CO 2 -activation to obtain well-performing and sustainable electrode materials for aqueous supercapacitors Highlights Porous nitrogen-doped carbon was synthesized by ammonothermal carbonization High capacitances of 185 F g −1 were obtained Very high cycling stability was obtained