Straightforward Solution Polymerization Synthesis of Porous Carbon@Gold Nanoparticles Electrode for High-Performance Supercapacitor

Porous carbon materials have proven to be an excellent candidate electrode material for supercapacitor applications; however, the energy density is relatively in a low level. In this work, we introduce gold nanoparticles into the precursor of polyacrylonitrile to prepare composite materials of gold nanoparticles and porous carbon using a facile method to enhance the energy density of this carbon based supercapacitor device. The samples are quantitatively analyzed using transmission electron microscope, field emission scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in order to unveil the structure and morphological features. Accordingly, the results have confirmed the porous structure, including numerous micro/mesoporous, with relatively high specific surface area at 3, 305 m(2)/g. On the electrochemical analysis aspect, the composite materials demonstrated a high specific capacitance of 421.4 F/g at the current density of 0.5 A/g, which is much higher than that of the pristine carbon (without introducing gold nanoparticles), 190 F/g, indicating the optimized nature of the composite materials. Moreover, the symmetrical supercapacitor is assembled with composite electrode, and meshed with 6 M KOH aqueous solution as an electrolyte. Interestingly, a high specific energy of 10.4 Wh/kg is obtained at specific power of 124.9 W/kg. According to the findings, the obtained composite electrode material of gold nanoparticles and porous carbon is a highly promising electrode material for supercapacitors or other energy storage devices.

Automated summary

The study introduced gold nanoparticles into porous carbon materials to enhance the energy density of supercapacitors. The composite materials showed a high specific capacitance and specific energy, indicating their promising potential for use in supercapacitors or other energy storage devices.