Porous structure design of carbon xerogels for advanced supercapacitor

A porous carbon electrode incorporating considerations both heteroatom doping and pore structure design with: combination of melamine and PEO-PPO-PEO (polyethylene oxide-polypropylene oxide-polyethylene oxide) micelles for the nitrogen-doping and optimization the micron-duct formation; integration of CO2-etching into the carbonization process for the formation of abundant micropores. The structure of these nitrogen-doped carbon xerogels (NCXs) are indeed comprised of a multi-scaled pores having nano-porous carbon in a network of micron-size percolated hollow-channels. The resulted material has an ultrahigh surface area of 4279 m(2) g(-1) when used as electrode for supercapacitor, which deliver a high specific capacitance of 271 F g(-1) with excellent cycle stability and good rate capability. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.