Microbial Porous Carbon by Low-Alkali Activation for Flexible Supercapacitors

Abstract

Chlorella is a genus of algae widely distributed in fresh water, with high yield and low cost. In this work, using a green and low-alkali approach, high-economic-value porous carbon is transformed from Chlorella precursor, revealing superior electrochemical performance. More precisely, Chlorella, with an intrinsic micron-scale structure, provides a good basis for the preparation of carbon materials with high specific surface area. Then, various components (proteins, fats, vitamins and others) of algae provide a large number of heteroatomic defects and surface functional groups after carbonization, thus offering additional pseudocapacitance of porous carbon. Finally, low-alkali activation reduces the corrosive damage to equipment, confirming the environmental protection trend.

ZnO/Carbon Shell/Carbon Cloth as a Stable Host for High Li-Content Anodes

“…3D current collectors commonly exhibit a high surface area, which decreases the local current density and further alleviates the formation of Li dendrites . Meanwhile, because 3D current collectors provide a large space for Li accommodation, the influence of volume change during Li plating/stripping can be effectively alleviated. − Benefiting from these advantages, a variety of 3D current collectors have been developed, including hollow carbon fibers or spheres, − metal foams, , and substrate–metal frameworks. , Although the 3D structure is beneficial to reduce the voltage polarization, the substrate is of significant importance to influence the nucleation behavior. Yan et al explored the nucleation patterns of Li metals on various substrates and unveiled a substrate-dependent growth phenomenon that enables the selective deposition of Li metal .…”

Reduced Graphene Oxide—Polycarbonate Electrodes on Different Supports for Symmetric Supercapacitors

“…At the same time, the composites of PC with graphene have also been widely studied as promising materials for 3D printing [38], photoactuators [39] and energy storage applications [40]. In addition, based on the studied electrochemical properties of PC [41], it can be used as a supercapacitor membrane [42,43] or as a polymer electrolyte [44,45]. It was also reported to be used after chemical recycling as activated carbon in supercapacitor electrodes [46].…”