Size-controllable synthesis of monodispersed nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres from polydopamine for high-rate supercapacitors

doi:10.1007/s11705-023-2326-8

Front. Chem. Sci. Eng.

2023, Vol. 17

Issue (11) : 1788-1800 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-023-2326-8

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Size-controllable synthesis of monodispersed nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres from polydopamine for high-rate supercapacitors

Ning Zhang¹, Fu-Cheng Gao¹, Hong Liu¹, Feng-Yun Wang², Ru-Liang Zhang¹, Qing Yu¹, Lei Liu¹(

)

¹. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
². College of Physics and State Key Laboratory of Bio Fibers and Eco Textiles, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China

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Abstract

Monodispersed nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres with tunable particle size (100–230 nm) were synthesized via self-polymerization of biochemical dopamine in the presence of hexamethylenetetramine as a buffer and F127 as a size controlling agent. Hexamethylenetetramine can mildly release NH_3, which in turn initiates the polymerization reaction of dopamine. The carbon nanospheres obtained exhibited a significant energy storage capability of 265 F·g^–1 at 0.5 A·g^–1 and high-rate performance of 82% in 6 mol·L^–1 KOH (20 A·g^–1), which could be attributed to the presence of abundant micro-mesoporous structure, doped nitrogen functional groups and the small particle size. Moreover, the fabricated symmetric supercapacitor device displayed a high stability of 94% after 5000 cycles, revealing the considerable potential of carbon nanospheres as electrode materials for energy storage.

Keywords carbon nanospheres size-controlled nitrogen-doped high-rate supercapacitors

Corresponding Author(s): Lei Liu

About author:

Peng Lei and Charity Ngina Mwangi contributed equally to this work.

Just Accepted Date: 22 May 2023 Online First Date: 03 July 2023 Issue Date: 25 October 2023

Cite this article:

Ning Zhang,Fu-Cheng Gao,Hong Liu, et al. Size-controllable synthesis of monodispersed nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres from polydopamine for high-rate supercapacitors[J]. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng., 2023, 17(11): 1788-1800.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/10.1007/s11705-023-2326-8
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/Y2023/V17/I11/1788

Fig.1 Schematic illustration of the synthetic procedure of NMCSs.

Fig.2 SEM images of NMCSs-x-y. (a, b) NMCSs-2-700, (c, d) NMCSs-4-700 and (e, f) NMCSs-15-700.

Fig.3 TEM images of NMCSs-x-700. (a, b) NMCSs-2-700, (c, d) NMCSs-4-700 and (e, f) NMCSs-15-700.

Fig.4 SEM images of NMCSs-15-y. (a) NMCSs-15-600, (b) NMCSs-15-800. The SEM elemental mapping of (c) image (d) C, (e) N and (f) O in NMCSs-15-700.

Fig.5 TEM images of NMCSs-15-y. (a, b) NMCSs-15-600 and (c, d) NMCSs-15-800.

Tab.1 The pore characteristics and surface C, N, O contents of the NMCSs-x-y

Fig.6 (a) TG curves of the as-prepared NMCSs, (b) XRD patterns of the NMCSs carbonized at different temperatures, (c) N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms and (d) the corresponding pore size distribution curves of NMCSs-15-y. The dV/dD value was shifted by 0.02 and 0.04 cm³·g^–1·nm^–1 for NMCSs-15-700 and NMCSs-15-800, respectively.

Fig.7 XPS spectra of the NMCSs-15-y. (a) Survey spectrum, (b) C 1s, (c) N 1s, (d) O 1s.

Fig.8 Electrochemical properties of NMCSs-x-y in a three-electrode system. (a) CV curves at 20 mV·s^–1 (SCE: saturated calomel electrode); (b) galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) curves at 1 A·g^–1; (c) GCD curves of NMCSs-15-700 at different current densities; (d) specific capacitance at various current densities (0.5–20 A·g^–1); (e) electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) plots of NMCSs; (f) cycling stability of NMCSs-15-700 (1 A·g^–1).

Tab.2 Comparison of the electrochemical performances of NMCSs-15-700 with other reported carbon nanospheres

Fig.9 Electrochemical performance of NMCSs-15-700 in two-electrode system with PVA/KOH gel all-solid-state electrolytes. (a) Schematic illustration of the symmetric all-solid-state supercapacitor; (b) CV curves at different scan rates; (c) GCD curves at 0.2–10 A·g^–1; (d) cycling stability of symmetric supercapacitor device at 0.5 A·g^–1; (e) Ragone plots of NMCSs-15-700 symmetric supercapacitors; (f) LEDs powered by three symmetric capacitors in series based on NMCSs-15-700 electrode.

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