Preparation and supercapacitive behaviors of the ordered mesoporous/microporous chromium carbide-derived carbons

A series of ordered mesoporous/microporous carbon materials derived from chromium carbide-derived carbons (CDCs) are prepared by nanocasting the chromic acetate and furfuryl alcohol precursor into SBA-15 and subsequent chlorination. The structure and morphology of the CDCs are characterized by N-2 adsorption/desorption isotherm, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that all of the synthesized CDCs present large specific surface area and pore volume. Especially, the CDCs-2 prepared at the mass ratio of 1/1 (chromic acetate/furfuryl alcohol) exhibits the chain-like morphology with high surface area (1236 m(2) g(-1)), large pore volume (0.76 cm(3) g(-1)), and the good mesopore size centered at 3.43 nm. The electrochemical properties of all the CDCs are studied by cyclic voltammetry, constant current charge/discharge, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cycle life measurements in 6 M KOH electrolyte. The results display that the sample CDCs-2 exhibits a high capacitance of 242.7 F g(-1) at the current density of 1 A g(-1) and good cycling stability with coulombic efficiency of 100% over 10000 cycles. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.