Chitosan-Derived Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon as a Supercapacitor Electrode Material

Abstract

The electrode materials determine the performance of the supercapacitors. N-self-doped graphitized porous carbon (NGPC) was successfully synthesized via a freeze-drying and heat calcination process. This work develops a green synthesis strategy utilizing natural chitosan as both the carbon and nitrogen source and employing environmentally friendly potassium tris(oxalato)ferrate(III) trihydrate (K3[Fe(C2O4)3]) as a multifunctional reagent. This one-step pyrolysis achieves the synergistic integration of activation and graphitization, effectively constructing a three-dimensional porous structure. NGPC exhibited a high capacitance of 286 F/g at 0.5 A/g in the three-electrode cell. When configured as a symmetric supercapacitor, it retained 93.7% of the initial capacitance after 10000 cycles and achieved an excellent energy density output of 16.9 Wh/kg at 250 W/kg. The work offers a facile and promising avenue for the development of high-performance, low-cost, biomass-derived electrode materials.