Development of Uniform Porous Carbons From Polycarbazole Phthalonitriles as Durable CO2 Adsorbent and Supercapacitor Electrodes

Advances in new porous materials have recognized great consideration in CO2 capture and electrochemical energy storage (EES) applications. In this study, we reported a synthesis of two nitrogen-enriched KOH-activated porous carbons prepared from polycarbazole phthalonitrile networks through direct pyrolysis protocol. The highest specific surface area of the carbon material prepared by pyrolysis of p-4CzPN polymer reaches 1,279 m(2) g(-1). Due to the highly rigid and reticular structure of the precursor, the obtained c-4CzPN-KOH carbon material exhibits high surface area, uniform porosity, and shows excellent CO2 capture performance of 19.5 wt% at 0 degrees C. Moreover, the attained porous carbon c-4CzPN-KOH showed high energy storage capacities of up to 451 F g(-1) in aqueous electrolytes containing 6.0 M KOH at a current density of 1 A g(-1). The prepared carbon material also exhibits excellent charge/discharge cycle stability and retains 95.9% capacity after 2000 cycles, indicating promising electrode materials for supercapacitors.

Automated summary

This study reports a synthesis method of two nitrogen-enriched activated carbon materials prepared from polycarbazole phthalonitrile networks. The prepared carbon materials exhibit high surface area, uniform porosity, and show excellent CO2 capture performance and energy storage capacity, indicating potential applications.