Surface engineering towards high-energy carbon cathode for advanced aqueous zinc-ion hybrid capacitors

Opportunities coexist with challenges for the development of carbon-based cathodes with a high energy density applied for zinc ion hybrid capacitors (ZIHCs). In the present study, a facile and effective surface engineering approach is demonstrated to greatly improve the energy storage ability of commercial carbon paper (CP) in ZIHC. Benefiting from the introduced oxygen functional groups, larger surface area and improved surface wettability upon air calcination, the assembled aqueous ZIHC with the functionalized carbon paper (FCP) exhibits a much higher areal capacity of 0.22 mAh/cm(2) at 1 mA/cm(2) , outperforming the counterpart with blank CP by over 50 0 0 times. More importantly, a superior energy density and power density of 130.8 mu;Wh/cm(2) and 7460.5 mu W/cm(2) , are respectively delivered. Furthermore, more than 90% of the initial capacity is retained over 10 0 0 0 cycles. This surface engineering strategy to improve the energy storage capability is potentially applicable to developing a wide range of high-energy carbon electrode materials. (C) 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

Automated summary

In this study, a surface engineering approach is utilized to enhance the energy storage capability of commercial carbon paper in zinc ion hybrid capacitors. The functionalized carbon paper shows significantly improved areal capacity, energy density, power density, and cycle stability. This surface engineering strategy has the potential for developing high-energy carbon electrode materials.