Issue 9, 2019, Issue in Progress

Nitrogen and sulfur-codoped porous carbon derived from a BSA/ionic liquid polymer complex: multifunctional electrode materials for water splitting and supercapacitors

Abstract

Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was complexed with a hydrophobic ionic liquid polymer (PIL) via electrostatic interaction to fabricate a carbon precursor. Then, a novel nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) codoped micro-/mesoporous carbon (NSPC) was obtained via direct carbonization of the interpolyelectrolyte BSA@PIL complex. The newly developed NSPC materials exhibited excellent HER/OER electrocatalytic activity and stability, as well as outstanding capacitance performance. Remarkably, NSPC pyrolyzed at 1000 degrees (NSPC-1000) presented an overpotential as low as 172 mV vs. RHE (without iR correction) to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a Tafel slope of 44.3 mV dec−1 in 0.5 M H2SO4 for HER, as well as a low overpotential of 460 mV vs. RHE in 0.1 M KOH for OER. Furthermore, NSPC-1000 offers a specific capacitance as high as 495 F g−1 at a current density of 0.1 A g−1. Such excellent performance of NSPC in electrocatalytic water splitting and supercapacitors originates from the synergistic effects of its N/S-codoping and micro-/mesoporous hierarchical architecture. Our facile protocol through combining biomacromolecules and synthetic polymers offers a new strategy in the development of effective, readily scalable and metal-free heteroatom-doped carbon materials for energy-related applications.

Graphical abstract: Nitrogen and sulfur-codoped porous carbon derived from a BSA/ionic liquid polymer complex: multifunctional electrode materials for water splitting and supercapacitors

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 Nov 2018
Accepted
03 Feb 2019
First published
11 Feb 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2019,9, 5189-5196

Nitrogen and sulfur-codoped porous carbon derived from a BSA/ionic liquid polymer complex: multifunctional electrode materials for water splitting and supercapacitors

X. Liu, J. Yu, H. Song, P. Song, R. Wang and Y. Xiong, RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 5189 DOI: 10.1039/C8RA09700C

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