Ordered mesoporous/microporous carbon sphere arrays derived from chlorination of mesoporous TiC/C composite and their application for supercapacitors

Abstract

Three dimensional ordered mesoporous/microporous carbon microsphere arrays (MMCSA) were derived from chlorination of mesoporous titanium carbide/carbon composites which were prepared by a hard-templating method combined with a soft-templating self-assembly approach. The obtained carbon material has a high surface area (1464.4 m² g⁻¹) and a large pore volume (1.483 cm³ g⁻¹), with mesopore size at about 8.5 nm, micropore size of 0.69 and 1.51 nm and an interconnected window size of about 60 nm. It exhibits a high capacitance of 134 F g⁻¹ in nonaqueous electrolyte and good cycling stability with capacitance retention of 84% over 5000 cycles. The unique mesoporous structure and sphere array morphology provide a more favorable path for electrolyte penetration and transportation and lower electrode resistance to achieve promising rate capability performance, while the micropores in the mesopore walls greatly enhance the specific capacitance.