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Hierarchical porous carbon derived from one-step self-activation of zinc gluconate for symmetric supercapacitors with high energy density

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Abstract

Porous carbons with high specific area surfaces are promising electrode materials for supercapacitors. However, their production usually involves complex, time-consuming, and corrosive processes. Hence, a straightforward and effective strategy is presented for producing highly porous carbons via a self-activation procedure utilizing zinc gluconate as the precursor. The volatile nature of zinc at high temperatures gives the carbons a large specific surface area and an abundance of mesopores, which avoids the use of additional activators and templates. Consequently, the obtained porous carbon electrode delivers a satisfactory specific capacitance and outstanding cycling durability of 90.9% after 50000 cycles at 10 A·g−1. The symmetric supercapacitors assembled by the optimal electrodes exhibit an acceptable rate capability and a distinguished cycling stability in both aqueous and ionic liquid electrolytes. Accordingly, capacitance retention rates of 77.8% and 85.7% are achieved after 50000 cycles in aqueous alkaline electrolyte and 10000 cycles in ionic liquid electrolyte. Moreover, the symmetric supercapacitors deliver high energy/power densities of 49.8 W·h·kg−1/2477.8 W·kg−1 in the Et4NBF4 electrolyte, outperforming the majority of previously reported porous carbon-based symmetric supercapacitors in ionic liquid electrolytes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the starting grant from Jiangxi Normal University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China

    Junlei Xiao, Yifan Wang, Shuijian He & Shaohua Jiang

  2. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, 330022, China

    Hua Zhang

  3. Institute of Materials Science and Devices, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, 215009, China

    Chunmei Zhang

Authors
  1. Junlei Xiao
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  2. Hua Zhang
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  3. Yifan Wang
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  4. Chunmei Zhang
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  5. Shuijian He
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  6. Shaohua Jiang
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Correspondence to Hua Zhang, Chunmei Zhang or Shaohua Jiang.

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Hierarchical porous carbon derived from one-step self-activation of zinc gluconate for symmetric supercapacitors with high energy density

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Xiao, J., Zhang, H., Wang, Y. et al. Hierarchical porous carbon derived from one-step self-activation of zinc gluconate for symmetric supercapacitors with high energy density. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng. 17, 387–394 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-022-2250-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-022-2250-3

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