Electrospun porous carbon nanofibers derived from bio-based phenolic resins as free-standing electrodes for high-performance supercapacitors

doi:10.1007/s11705-022-2260-1

Front. Chem. Sci. Eng.

2023, Vol. 17

Issue (5) : 504-515 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-022-2260-1

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Electrospun porous carbon nanofibers derived from bio-based phenolic resins as free-standing electrodes for high-performance supercapacitors

Yongsheng Zhang¹, Xiaomeng Yang¹, Jinpan Bao¹, Hang Qian¹, Dong Sui², Jianshe Wang¹, Chunbao Charles Xu³(

), Yanfang Huang¹(

)

¹. School of Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
². School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Luoyang Normal University, Luoyang 471934, China
³. Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Western University, London, N6A 3K7, Canada

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Abstract

Phenolic resins were employed to prepare electrospun porous carbon nanofibers with a high specific surface area as free-standing electrodes for high-performance supercapacitors. However, the sustainable development of conventional phenolic resin has been challenged by petroleum-based phenol and formaldehyde. Lignin with abundant phenolic hydroxyl groups is the main non-petroleum resource that can provide renewable aromatic compounds. Hence, lignin, phenol, and furfural were used to synthesize bio-based phenolic resins, and the activated carbon nanofibers were obtained by electrospinning and one-step carbonization activation. Fourier transform infrared and differential scanning calorimetry were used to characterize the structural and thermal properties. The results reveal that the apparent activation energy of the curing reaction is 89.21 kJ·mol^–1 and the reaction order is 0.78. The activated carbon nanofibers show a uniform diameter, specific surface area up to 1100 m²·g^–1, and total pore volume of 0.62 cm³·g^–1. The electrode demonstrates a specific capacitance of 238 F·g^–1 (0.1 A·g^–1) and good rate capability. The symmetric supercapacitor yields a high energy density of 26.39 W·h·kg^–1 at 100 W·kg^–1 and an excellent capacitance retention of 98% after 10000 cycles. These results confirm that the activated carbon nanofiber from bio-based phenolic resins can be applied as electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors.

Keywords lignin bio-based phenolic resins electrospinning activated carbon nanofibers supercapacitors

Corresponding Author(s): Chunbao Charles Xu,Yanfang Huang

About author:

*These authors equally shared correspondence to this manuscript.

Online First Date: 28 February 2023 Issue Date: 28 April 2023

Cite this article:

Yongsheng Zhang,Xiaomeng Yang,Jinpan Bao, et al. Electrospun porous carbon nanofibers derived from bio-based phenolic resins as free-standing electrodes for high-performance supercapacitors[J]. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng., 2023, 17(5): 504-515.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/10.1007/s11705-022-2260-1
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/Y2023/V17/I5/504

Fig.1 FTIR spectrum of (a) lignin, PDL, and PDLF resin and (b) ¹H NMR spectra of PDL and PDLF resin.

Tab.1 Band assignments for FTIR and ¹H NMR spectra

Scheme1 (a) Reaction mechanism of PDL preparation and (b) the PDLF resin formation.

Fig.2 (a) GPC curves of PDL, PF and PDLF resin, and (b) TG curves of PF and PDLF resin.

Fig.3 DSC profile at different heating rates of (a) PDLF and (d) PF, (b) apparent activation energy and pre-finger factor fitting curve, (e) reaction series fitting curve of PDLF and PF, and curing temperature extrapolation curve of (c) PDLF and (f) PF.

Fig.4 SEM images of (a, b) ACNF-PF, (c, d) CNF-PDLF and (e, f) ACNF-PDLF.

Fig.5 TEM images of ACNF-PDLF.

Fig.6 (a) XRD patterns, (b) Raman spectra, XPS spectra of (c) C1s and (d) O1s, (e) nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms and (f) pore size distributions (BJH) of ACNF-PF, CNF-PDLF and ACNF-PDLF. The inset is a local enlargement of the pore size distributions.

Tab.2 Porosity and electrochemical properties of the samples

Fig.7 (a) The CV curve of ACNF-PF, CNF-PDLF and ACNF-PDLF at scan rates of 5 mV·s^–1. (b) Cyclic voltammograms of ACNF-PF, (c) CNF-PDLF and (d) ACNF-PDLF electrode materials at scan rates of 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 mV·s^–1.

Fig.8 (a) GCD curves at current density of 0.1 A·g^–1, (b) rate performance, (c) cyclic performance curve of ACNF-PF, CNF-PDLF and ACNF-PDLF.

Fig.9 (a) Nyquist impedance plot of ACNF-PF, CNF-PDLF and ACNF-PDLF. The insets are the equivalent electrical circuit diagram and enlarged high-frequency region of the plots. (b) The binder-free ACNF-PDLF electrode has good self-supporting characteristics.

Tab.3 Electrochemical performance for carbon nanofibers reported in the literature.

Fig.10 The Ragone plots of the symmetric cell and comparative performance of the symmetric cell versus previously reported ones (Refs.: N,S-PCNs [39], CA-CNFs [40], HPC [41], HNT/C [32]).

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