Supercapacitive performance of nitrogen doped porous carbon based material for supercapacitor application

Honeycomb nitrogen-doped porous carbon (NPC) was prepared for supercapacitor applications by hydrothermal carbonization and KOH activation process. This process used glucose as the carbon source and trans-1, 2-cyclohexane diamine tetraacetic acid as the nitrogen source. It can both control the morphology and improve the electrical performances of the as-achieved NPC. The porous carbon electrode offers improved electrochemical properties with a capacitance as high as 423 F/g at 0.5 A/g. There was excellent cycling stability with 92.5% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles at 10 A/g current density as well as good rate performance with 300 F/g even at 20 A/g. This is due to the hierarchical porous structure, high specific surface area, numerous nitrogen groups, and good electrical conductivity. Moreover, the symmetric supercapacitor based on the porous carbon materials in neat DLC301 electrolyte delivers a high energy density of 58.75 Wh/kg and an excellent power density of 250 W/kg. Two assembled supercapacitors were connected and utilized for the driving recorder to work normally for 15 s. These satisfactory electrochemical properties indicate that the honeycomb 3D porous carbon has good prospects as an electrode for supercapacitors. Graphic abstract