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Polyaniline–poly(styrene sulfonate) hydrogel derived hierarchically porous N, S-codoped carbon for high-performance supercapacitors

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Abstract

On account of the limited energy density of carbon-based supercapacitors, the heteroatom-doped carbons with hierarchically porous structure are extensively developed. Unfortunately, the facile synthesis remains a huge challenge. Herein, a hierarchically porous N, S-codoped carbon is prepared by carbonizing the conducting polymer hydrogel of polyaniline–poly(styrene sulfonate) (PANI–PSS), in which the PANI and PSS act as nitrogen and sulfur sources, respectively. Owing to inherent porous structure of hydrogel, and the pore-forming effects of Na+ ions and the inorganic byproducts, the resultant carbons exhibit ideal hierarchically porous structure with high specific surface area. The electrochemical performance is investigated by using cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and galvanostatic charge–discharge, and the results show that the product prepared at 750 °C (NSC-750) exhibits the highest specific capacitance (376 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1), and the smallest inner impedance, originating from its highest specific surface area (755 m2 g−1) and moderate do** of heteroatoms. The feasibility of product is demonstrated by the NSC-750 symmetric supercapacitor, which delivered high energy density of 11.7 Wh kg−1 with a power density of 250 W kg−1. The hydrogel-derived hierarchically porous N, S-codoped carbon with superior electrochemical performance highlights a facile and feasible pathway to synthesize high-performance carbons for supercapacitors.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (51602230) and Opening Project (No. JDGD-202009) of Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Chemical Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, People’s Republic of China. We also thank the Center of Analysis and Test of Wuhan Institute of Technology for the Raman, XRD, XPS, and SEM measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hubei Key Laboratory of Plasma Chemistry and Advanced Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, No. 206 Guanggu 1st Road, Wuhan, 430205, China

    Huabo Huang, Yucong Wang, Jijun Hu, Qingyin Yang, Liang Li, Dawei Wang & Junlong Yao

  2. Key Laboratory of Green Processing and Functional New Textile Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Textile Science and Engineering, Wuhan Textile University, No. 1 Sunshine Avenue, Wuhan, 430200, China

    Juan Huang

  3. Ministry-of-Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, Hubei University, No. 368 Friendship Avenue, Wuhan, 430062, China

    Junlong Yao

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  1. Huabo Huang
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Huang, H., Wang, Y., Hu, J. et al. Polyaniline–poly(styrene sulfonate) hydrogel derived hierarchically porous N, S-codoped carbon for high-performance supercapacitors. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 32, 8916–8931 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-05563-9

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