A thin carbon nanofiber/branched carbon nanofiber nanocomposite for high-performance supercapacitors

Thin carbon nanofibers (TCNFs) hanging on branched carbon nanofibers (3D TCNF/CNF) with an N-doping level up to 8.7 at% for high-performance supercapacitors are designed and synthesized. TCNF/CNF shows a 3D hierarchical porous structure, a large surface area, abundant ionic-channels, and a great number of electrochemically active sites by N-doping. Because of the multiple synergistic effects of these features, the supercapacitors (SCs) based on TCNF/CNF show a remarkably excellent electrochemical behavior with a high specific capacitance of 224 F g(-1). After 50 000 cycles of charge/discharge, 92% of the initial capacitance value is retained in 1.0 M H2SO4 electrolyte. Moreover, the TCNF/CNF-based SCs show low internal resistance, leading to a high power density with a relatively high energy density.

Automated summary

Thin carbon nanofibers (TCNFs) are designed and synthesized to hang on branched carbon nanofibers (3D TCNF/CNF) with high N-doping levels. The TCNF/CNF structure demonstrates a 3D hierarchical porous structure with large surface area, abundant ionic-channels, and numerous electrochemically active sites due to N-doping. SCs based on TCNF/CNF exhibit excellent electrochemical behavior with a high specific capacitance of 224 F g(-1). The TCNF/CNF-based SCs also show low internal resistance, leading to high power density and relatively high energy density.