Porosity-engineered carbons for supercapacitive energy storage using conjugated microporous polymer precursors

Abstract

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) are considered an important material, combining aspects of both microporosity and extended π-conjugation. However, pristine CMP electrodes suffer from poor electrical conductivity which limits the material in electrochemical applications. In this work, direct carbonisation of conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) yields porosity-engineered carbons, important for the flow of ions through the electrode. These conductive carbonised CMPs show specific capacitance as high as 260 F g⁻¹, excellent rate capability and no loss in performance after 10 000 charge/discharge cycles. This study provides a procedure to enhance the performance of CMP-based materials, opening up a new source of electroactive materials.