A study of porous carbon structures derived from composite of cross-linked polymers and reduced graphene oxide for supercapacitor applications

In this study, hydrothermal and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods were used to prepare cross-linked polymer-based porous carbonaceous materials designated as activated carbon from polyvinyl alcohol (ACPVA), activated carbon from polyvinyl alcohol/reduced graphene (AC-PVA/rGO) and activated carbon from polyvinyl alcohol/reduced graphene/polyvinyl pyrrolidone (AC-PVA/rGO/PVP). The structural properties of the as-prepared samples indicated a higher degree amorphicity. The textural analysis revealed high specific surface areas along with high void fractions for the samples. The electrochemical analysis of the cross-linked polymer based activated carbons conducted as three-electrodes revealed the samples' potential as electrode materials for supercapacitors' applications. Activated carbon from PVA/rGO/PVP exhibited a superior specific capacitance (223 F g-1), a smaller charge transfer resistance (RCT = 1.0 & UOmega;) and equivalent series resistance (ESR = 0.54 & UOmega;) as compared to AC-PVA and AC-PVA/rGO. Remarkably, a fabricated symmetric device based on the AC-PVA/rGO/ PVP as electrode and designated as AC-PVA/rGO/PVP//AC-PVA/rGO/PVP, delivered a high specific energy of 19.5 W h kg(-1) corresponding to a specific power of 400 W kg(-1) at 0.5 A g(-1). Besides, the supercapacitor displayed a stable evolution of capacitance, high coulombic efficiency of 99.8% and good related capacitance retention of 82.3% during a 10,000 galvanostatic charge/discharge cycles conducted for the device in an extended cell potential of 1.6 V at 5.0 A g(-1) in 2.5 mol L-1 KNO3 aqueous electrolyte. These encouraging results demonstrate the versatile potential of the carbon materials for future electrochemical energy storage devices.

Automated summary

In this study, cross-linked polymer-based porous carbonaceous materials were prepared by hydrothermal and chemical vapor deposition methods. The as-prepared samples showed high amorphicity and high specific surface areas. The electrochemical analysis revealed the potential of these materials as electrode materials for supercapacitors. Among them, activated carbon from polyvinyl alcohol/reduced graphene/polyvinyl pyrrolidone exhibited the best electrochemical performance.