Nitrogen and Sulfur Codoped Hierarchical Porous Carbon Derived from Lignin for High-Performance Zinc Ion Capacitors

Abstract

As electrode materials for zinc ion capacitors (ZICs), porous carbons are an important factor affecting the electrochemical behavior of ZICs. Heteroatom doping is an efficient approach to adjust the pore structure, regulate the electronic structure, increase the surface wettability, and provide pseudo capacitance. In this work, hierarchical porous N/S codoped activated carbon (N/S-AC) materials were prepared from lignin using urea and thiourea as the dopants. The preparation process consisted of first step charring and second step activation with codoping to yield N/S-AC, which exhibited hierarchical pore structure, suitable for providing abundant active sites. The use of N/S-AC as cathode materials for ZIC delivered an outstanding specific capacitance of 307 F g–1 at 1 A g–1 and a remarkable capacity retention of 99.72% after 20,000 cycles at 10 A g–1. The device also exhibited a high energy density of 108.8 Wh kg–1 at 2880 W kg–1 and 65.8 Wh kg–1 at 115200 W kg–1. The excellent electrochemical properties were attributed to the synergistic effect of nitrogen and sulfur elements, and hierarchical porous structure. In sum, these findings are promising for development of ZIC electrode materials with high energy density.

Biomass-Derived Carbon Materials for Advanced Metal-Ion Hybrid Supercapacitors: A Step Towards More Sustainable Energy

“…The electrochemical tests suggest that BDC sheets derived from agricultural waste show great potential for high-performance ZIHSCs, providing both sustainability and cost-effectiveness in energy storage applications. The synthesized N/S-AC materials were used to fabricate the ZIHSC with a carbon negatrode and zinc foil positrode, employing 2 M ZnSO4 aqueous electrolyte [72]. The electrochemical results (Figure 8c) designate that the specific capacitance for the N/S-ACbased ZIHSCs reached 307 F/g at 0.5 A/g, demonstrating an excellent capacity retention of 99.72% after 20,000 cycles at 10 A/g.…”

“…Lignin, a significant biomass constituent, produces nitrogen and sulfur co-doped hierarchical porous carbon (N/S-AC) materials for high-performance ZIHSCs [72]. The preparation entails a dual-phase procedure: charring and activation using co-doping.…”

“…Zhao et al [73] created ZIHSCs by using the manufactured HCSs as negative electrodes, zinc foil as the positrode, and a 2 M ZnSO4 electrolyte, as shown in Figure 8d. The ZISCs based on HCSs-A-5-900-1 had a specific capacitance of 108 F/g at a current density The synthesized N/S-AC materials were used to fabricate the ZIHSC with a carbon negatrode and zinc foil positrode, employing 2 M ZnSO 4 aqueous electrolyte [72]. The electrochemical results (Figure 8c) designate that the specific capacitance for the N/S-ACbased ZIHSCs reached 307 F/g at 0.5 A/g, demonstrating an excellent capacity retention of 99.72% after 20,000 cycles at 10 A/g.…”

Fabricating N, P-Codoped Hierarchical Porous Carbons from Lignin via Assembled Templating and Activation Strategy for High-Performance Supercapacitors

“…To improve the capacitive properties of lignin-derived carbon materials, a combination of activation, templating, and doping methods has been employed to fabricate heteroatom-doped hierarchical porous carbons exhibiting remarkably high SSAs. − For instance, Wang et al utilized KOH as an activating agent in combination with urea to prepare porous carbon from the mixture of lignin, resulting in a high SSA of 3130 m 2 /g. Yin et al synthesized a dual N/S-doped carbon from lignin amine using Fe 3 O 4 as a template and KOH activation, achieving an SSA of 1199 m 2 /g and a specific capacitance of 241 F/g at 1.0 A/g.…”