Iron induced porosity of the templated carbon for enhancement of electrochemical capacitance

Porous carbon (PC) materials with a large specific surface area and high volume of mesopores were produced using iron-doped calcium tartrate (CaTr) as a template precursor and ethanol as a carbon source. The iron doping concentration was varied from 0.2 to 1.6 at%. Template precursor was decomposed in argon at 800 degrees C, the formed template nanoparticles were immediately used for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of ethanol, and after the synthesis, they were removed by HCl treatment. It was shown that the template consisted of CaO nano particles 5-20 nm in size with oxidized carbon layers on the surface. The incorporation of iron into CaTr promoted graphitization of the carbon layers and led to formation of iron oxide nanoparticles 3-4 nm in size. These nanoparticles served as a replica for small mesopores in the graphitic layers obtained in the ethanol CVD process. PC materials grown on the templates with an iron doping 0.2-0.4 at% were enriched with small mesopores, and due to this, they had a surface area of 907-931 m(2) g(-1) and pore volume of 3.3 cm(3) g(-1). These materials showed the highest specific capacitances of 280-230 F g(-1) at 2 mV s(-1) in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte and a good rate capability.

Automated summary

In this study, porous carbon materials with a large specific surface area and high volume of mesopores were successfully synthesized using iron-doped calcium tartrate as a template precursor and ethanol as a carbon source. The incorporation of iron promoted graphitization of the carbon layers and led to the formation of small mesopores, resulting in materials with high specific surface area and pore volume, as well as good specific capacitances and rate capabilities.