Yuba-like porous carbon microrods derived from celosia cristata for high-performance supercapacitors and efficient oxygen reduction electrocatalysts

Here, a novel yuba-like porous carbon microrod is prepared via a simple and facile strategy by using the fluffy fibers of celosia cristata petals (FCCP) as the raw material. The optimized carbon microrod (FCCP-CM-900) possesses unique yuba-like structure, high specific surface area (1680 m(2) g(-1)) and large pore volume (0.98 cm(3) g(-1)), and effective nitrogen (similar to 4.52 at.%) and oxygen (similar to 5.49 at.%) doping, which can enhance the wettability and conductivity (7.9 S cm(-1)). As the electrode material for supercapacitor, FCCP-CM-900-based supercapacitor presents high specific capacitance (314.5 F g(-1) at 0.5 A g(-1)) in 6.0 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. The FCCP-CM-900-based symmetrical supercapacitor displays high energy density (18.6 Wh kg(-1) at 233.4 W kg(-1)) and outstanding cycling stability (98% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles) in 1.0 M Na2SO4 electrolyte. In addition, served as oxygen reduction electrocatalyst, the FCCP-CM-900 also exhibits excellent catalytic activity, good durability, together with high methanol tolerance in alkaline electrolyte, which makes it a highly efficient air cathode material toward zinc-air cell. (C) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A novel yuba-like porous carbon microrod was prepared using celosia cristata petals as the raw material, exhibiting excellent performance in supercapacitors and oxygen reduction electrocatalysis.