Sustainable and Scalable Synthesis of 2D Ultrathin Hierarchical Porous Carbon Nanosheets for High-Performance Supercapacitor

2D carbon nanomaterials such as graphene, carbon nanosheets, and their derivatives, representing the emerging class of advanced multifunctional materials, have gained great research interest because of their extensive applications ranging from electrochemistry to catalysis. However, sustainable and scalable synthesis of 2D carbon nanosheets (CNs) with hierarchical architecture and irregular structure via a green and low-cost strategy remains a great challenge. Herein, prehydrolysis liquor (PHL), an industrial byproduct of the pulping industry, is first employed to synthesize CNs via a simple hydrothermal carbonization technique. After mild activation with NH4Cl and FeCl3, the as-prepared activated CNs (A-CN@NFe) display an ultrathin structure (approximate to 3 nm) and a desirable specific surface area (1021 m(2) g(-1)) with hierarchical porous structure, which enables it to be both electroactive materials and structural support materials in nanofibrillated cellulose/A-CN@NFe/polypyrrole (NCP) nanocomposite, and thus endowing nanocomposite with impressive capacitance properties of 2546.3 mF cm(-2) at 1 mA cm(-2). Furthermore, the resultant all-solid-state symmetric supercapacitor delivers a satisfactory energy storage ability of 90.1 mu Wh cm(-2) at 250.0 mu W cm(-2). Thus, this work not only opens a new window for sustainable and scalable synthesis of CNs, but also offers a double profits strategy for energy storage and biorefinery industry.

Automated summary

This study successfully synthesized 2D carbon nanosheets with hierarchical architecture and irregular structure using prehydrolysis liquor, an industrial byproduct of the pulping industry, through a simple hydrothermal carbonization technique. The activated carbon nanosheets showed an ultrathin structure and high specific surface area, enabling them to be used as both electroactive materials and structural support materials in nanocomposites. The nanocomposite exhibited impressive capacitance properties and the all-solid-state symmetric supercapacitor demonstrated satisfactory energy storage ability. Overall, this work provides a new approach for sustainable and scalable synthesis of carbon nanosheets and offers a double profits strategy for the energy storage and biorefinery industry.