Silica-assisted strategy towards hierarchically porous carbon nanofibers for supercapacitor

Hierarchically porous carbon nanofibers (HPCF) have become the fundamental interest in carbon-based super -capacitor due to the characteristics of high inter-connected together hierarchical pore structure, high ion reachable surface area, and large aspect ratio et al. However, it remains a significant challenge to design and synthesize HPCF by simple and most effective method. Herein, a green and straightforward silica-assisted strategy is demonstrated to construct HPCF with tunable morphologies. The porous structure as well as the morphology of HPCF can be modulated by changing the reaction temperature and dosage of silica source. The optimized HPCF with high specific surface area of 1407 m2 g-1 can be obtained and it exhibits a high gravimetric capacitance of 314 F g-1 as well as an ultra-long cycling stability of 92.5% capacity retention after 10,000 cycles when used as electrode material in a three electrode-system for supercapacitor. Furthermore, experiment shows that 2.2 V light-emitting diodes are effortlessly lit by two series-wound HPCF devices in 1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte, indicating its high potential for practical applications.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates a green and straightforward silica-assisted strategy to construct hierarchically porous carbon nanofibers (HPCF) with tunable morphologies. The optimized HPCF material exhibits high specific surface area and gravimetric capacitance, as well as ultra-long cycling stability in a supercapacitor. Furthermore, it shows great potential for practical applications, as evidenced by effortlessly lighting up light-emitting diodes.