Applications of Pyrolytic Polyaniline for Renewable Energy Storage

Abstract

A large number of studies have shown that nitrogen‐doped carbon can effectively improve the electrochemical performance of renewable energy storage devices. Polyaniline, as a carbon precursor rich in nitrogen heteroatoms, can be pyrolyzed to introduce a high content of structural nitrogen atoms into the carbon skeleton to fundamentally change the global properties of carbon materials including physical properties (e. g. surface polarity, electric conductivity, and wettability) and chemical properties (e. g. basicity and additional pseudocapacitance). Thus, nitrogen doping is extensively applied in the field of Li‐ion batteries, Li‐sulfur batteries, and supercapacitors to obtain excellent performance. Doping with different kinds of nitrogen configurations (e. g. pyridinic N, pyrrolic N, and graphitic N) shows respective mechanisms for the electrode materials of different energy storage devices. These mechanisms and applications of pyrolytic polyaniline in Li‐ion batteries, Li‐sulfur batteries, and supercapacitors are illustrated in detail here.

Recent Progress and Future Directions of Biomass-Derived Hierarchical Porous Carbon: Designing, Preparation, and Supercapacitor Applications

“…On the other hand, the positive charges of graphite nitrogen and pyridine carbon in the carbon framework can form more active sites on the electrode surface and improve the charge transfer rate at high current density. 242 Specifically, the extra lone pair of electrons in the nitrogen atom allows the conductivity of the nitrogen-doped electrode material to be increased, which can provide a negative charge to the sp2 hybridized carbon skeleton of the delocalized π system and facilitate the electron transport. Second, the carbon electrode material hydrophilicity can be significantly enhanced by nitrogen doping, which is due to the nitrogen-containing functional groups being hydrophilic and facilitating the direct accessibility of electrolyte ions and electrodes.…”

“…Pyridine nitrogen and pyrrole nitrogen at the edge of the carbon framework are usually negatively charged, which can transfer additional free electrons or delocalized electrons, and can also participate in pseudocapacitance reactions to increase energy density. On the other hand, the positive charges of graphite nitrogen and pyridine carbon in the carbon framework can form more active sites on the electrode surface and improve the charge transfer rate at high current density . Specifically, the extra lone pair of electrons in the nitrogen atom allows the conductivity of the nitrogen-doped electrode material to be increased, which can provide a negative charge to the sp2 hybridized carbon skeleton of the delocalized π system and facilitate the electron transport.…”

Sustainable Synthesis of N‐Doped Hollow Porous Carbon Spheres via a Spray‐Drying Method for Lithium‐Sulfur Storage with Ultralong Cycle Life

“…In addition, pyrrolic‐N is p‐type doping, which can cause a large number of vacancy defects [45,46] . Each pyrrolic‐N atom can provide a lone pair of electrons in the aromatic ring of the carbon spheres, providing a binding site for the highly positively charged Li + in the lithium polysulfide (Li 2 S x ), thereby forming the Li 2 S x ‐N bond, and preventing the dissolution and shuttling effect of Li 2 S x more efficiently [4,47] . It is worth noting that after the introduction of S species, the proportion of the three N species changed significantly, illustrating the interaction between S and pyrrolic‐N (Figure S7).…”

Facile Preparation and Boosted Electrochemical Properties of Carbon/Carbon Composite Electrodes for Supercapacitors

“…[1,2] Up to now, SCs have been widely used in renewable power generation systems, consumer electronics, backup power supplies, and other fields. [3][4][5][6] SCs as a kind of electrochemical capacitor include electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) and pseudocapacitors. [7,8] The EDLC is based on attracting the opposite ions in electrolyte to the surface of electrodes to store energy, while the energy enrichment of pseudocapacitor is completed through oxidation reduction reaction of electrode materials.…”