Three-Dimensional Macroporous Carbon/Fe3O4-Doped Porous Carbon Nanorods for High-Performance Supercapacitor

Supercapacitors are considered as potential innovation for energy storage owing to their long charge discharge life and high power density. Herein, a simple and industry-scalable approach was developed to prepare the hybrid of Fe3O4-doped porous carbon nanorods (Fe3O4-DCN) supported by three-dimensional (3D) kenaf stem-derived macroporous carbon (KSPC) for high-performance supercapacitor, which was prepared via pyrolyzing the iron fumarate metal organic frameworks (MIL-88A, MIL stands for Materials from Institut Lavoisier)/3D-KSPC. The resulted 3D-KSPC/Fe3O4-DCN nanocomposites were carefully characterized by various techniques including scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction and N-2 adsorption/desorption isotherms. The 3D-KSPC/Fe3O4-DCN were employed as a promising electrode materials of supercapacitors by combining the advantage of Fe3O4-DCN (e.g., high specific capacitance, good rate capability and excellent cycling stability) with the superiority of 3D-KSPC (e.g., large specific surface area and hierarchical pores and high conductivity), exhibiting a high specific capacitance of 285.4 F g(-1) at the current density of 1 A g(-1). The capacitance was kept at 220.5 F g(-1) after 5000 cycles at 2 A g(-1), indicating outstanding cycle performance. This work might provide a new strategy to prepare nanostructures on 3D-KSPC for future applications.