Continuous and Scalable Manufacture of Coal-Derived Hierarchical Porous Carbon Dominated with Mesopores for High Rate-Performance Supercapacitors

Abstract

The continuous and scalable manufacture of porous carbon electrode materials with controlled pore architecture holds paramount importance in the development of efficient and sustainable energy storage systems. Herein, a green and industrially feasible physical activation strategy was proposed to produce heteroatom self-doped hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs) by using polyvinyl butyral (PVB) as a sacrificial template and cross-linking agent and low-rank coal as a lowcost precursor. The optimal HPC-20 has highly interconnected multiscale pore structure, large specific surface area, and heteroatomenriched surfaces. The synergistic effect of these advantages provides HPC-20 with a variety of benefits, including fast charge/discharge rates and abundant energy storage sites. Specifically, HPC-20 exhibited an appreciable specific capacitance of 304 F g −1 at 0.5 A g −1 and an excellent rate performance (capacitance retention of 65.8% at 50 A g −1 ). Furthermore, the symmetric supercapacitor achieved a maximum energy density of 23.1 W h kg −1 at a power density of 450 W kg −1 in 1 M Na 2 SO 4 electrolytes. This work proposes an approach for the large-scale production of porous carbon with a controllable pore structure from low-rank coal.

Tetrabenzonaphthalene and Redox-Active Anthraquinone-Linked Conjugated Microporous Polymers as Organic Electrodes for Enhanced Energy Storage Efficiency

“…The growing concerns over pollution, climate change, and the depletion of fossil fuels are intensifying global energy and environmental issues. − These challenges have spurred significant efforts to develop advanced alternative energy storage systems to satisfy future energy demands. − Consequently, there is an increasing focus on technologies for wastewater, water, and wind energy management as well as for storing materials and converting renewable energy sources. However, several challenges impede the adoption of energy storage systems, including low energy density, inadequate safety protocols, and a limited lifespan.…”