Issue 48, 2023

Advancing mesoporous carbon synthesis for supercapacitors: a systematic investigation of cross-linking agent effects on pore structure and functionality

Abstract

Soft-templating synthesis provides an effective route to prepare ordered mesoporous carbons (MCs) that can be used for supercapacitors. During this process, the cross-linking of carbon precursors is critical to obtain tailored pore structural MCs, thus careful selection of appropriate cross-linking agents is required. Despite the shift from the prevailing cross-linker formaldehyde to its more environmentally friendly alternatives, detailed understanding on the influence of different cross-linking agents on templating synthesis is still lacking. Therefore, it remains challenging to draw a conclusion regarding which cross-linker can effectively enable an ideal cross-linking and a robust templating synthesis of ordered MCs. This work presents a systematic study, by comparing three typical cross-linkers (formaldehyde, glyoxal, and glyoxylic acid), on the pore architecture, surface functionality, and electrochemical performance of resulting MCs. Both the type of cross-linker and its ratio with precursor monomer were found to be crucial for the pore architecture and electrochemical performance of resulting MCs. Glyoxal showed to be a promising cross-linker for easily generating ordered mesopores between 3.3–6.1 nm when the molar ratio between cross-linker and carbon precursor ranged from 1 to 2, whereas glyoxylic acid and formaldehyde induced interrupted or disordered mesopores. When the resulting MCs were used as supercapacitor electrodes, those cross-linked with glyoxal also led to overall higher capacitance in both 6 M KOH aqueous and ionic liquid [N2220][NTf2]/acetonitrile electrolytes thanks to the dominance of ordered mesopore channels, especially MC prepared at glyoxal/precursor molar ratio of 1.5. These findings on the effect of cross-linking on templating synthesis can be used to guide the customisation of MCs for supercapacitors and other applications by smartly choosing a suitable cross-linking agent and its ratio with the precursor.

Graphical abstract: Advancing mesoporous carbon synthesis for supercapacitors: a systematic investigation of cross-linking agent effects on pore structure and functionality

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 iyl 2023
Accepted
18 noy 2023
First published
20 noy 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Nanoscale, 2023,15, 19658-19670

Advancing mesoporous carbon synthesis for supercapacitors: a systematic investigation of cross-linking agent effects on pore structure and functionality

Y. Song, X. Zhang, P. A. A. Klusener and P. Nockemann, Nanoscale, 2023, 15, 19658 DOI: 10.1039/D3NR03244B

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