A Multipurpose 1D/2D Nitrogen-Doped Nanocarbon Hybrid Evolved from an Anthracite-Based Graphene Oxide-Co-Melamine Template

Abstract

Anthracite is a coal species with high metamorphism and carbon content, mainly composed of aromatic hydrocarbons possibly graphitized and resultantly viewed as a natural raw material for producing graphene. Here, a series of nitrogen-doped nanocarbon hybrids (NCH) fabricated from 1D carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and 2D graphene layers are successfully constructed by medium-temperature pyrolysis using anthracitebased graphene oxide-Co-melamine as a template. This work discovers that various anthracite macerals have a distinct effect on the NCH architecture and performance. When the vitrinite-rich group (V) is applied to replace anthracite, the obtained NCH-V exhibits higher capacitance performance and more excellent metal loading performance due to abundant graphenized structure, rich mesopores, and preferable nitrogen doping. Hence, NCH-V is a promising electrode material of supercapacitors and also a favorable carrier material for metal catalysts.