Biobased polyporphyrin derived porous carbon electrodes for highly efficient capacitive deionization

Recently, capacitive deionization (CDI) has attracted considerable interest as a potential desalination technique for seawater. It is thus desirable to develop low-cost, sustainable, and efficient electrode materials for desalination. In this study, the polyporphyrin was prepared by a one-pot reaction from biobased furan derivative, followed by activation to manufacture nitrogen-doped polyporphyrin derived porous carbons (NPPCs) for efficient capacitive deionization. In the presence of KOH as a pore activator, NPPCs exhibited cross-linked interconnected nanosphere chain-like structures inherited from the polyporphyrin backbone with coexisting mesopores and micropores, leading to extremely high specific surface area (2979.3 m(2) g(-1)) and large pore volume (2.22 cm(3) g(-1)). The electrochemical measurements revealed good conductivity, outstanding stability, and extraordinary specific capacitance (328.7 F g(-1)) of NPPCs, which can be ascribed to rich nitrogen content (8.0 at%) and high Pyrrolic nitrogen ratio. Due to their superior hierarchical porous structure and excellent electrochemical performance, the NPPC-800 electrodes presented a high salt adsorption capacity (SAC) of 35.7 mg g-1 and outstanding cycling stability in 10 mM NaCl solution at 1.2 V during the desalination tests. This work demonstrates the utilization of biobased porous carbon material will pave a prospective way in sustainable and potential applications for CDI technique.

Automated summary

In this study, nitrogen-doped polyporphyrin derived porous carbons (NPPCs) were prepared by a one-pot reaction from biobased furan derivative, followed by activation, for efficient capacitive deionization. The NPPCs exhibited cross-linked interconnected nanosphere chain-like structures and a rich pore structure, resulting in high specific surface area and large pore volume. The electrochemical measurements showed good conductivity, outstanding stability, and extraordinary specific capacitance of NPPCs. The NPPC-800 electrodes demonstrated high salt adsorption capacity and outstanding cycling stability in desalination tests, indicating the potential of biobased porous carbon material in CDI technique.