Facile synthesis of nitrogen-doped porous carbon as robust electrode for supercapacitors

Abstract Porous carbon nanomaterials are highly attactive as electrode materials for supercapacitors (SCs), but the relatively low capacitance as a result of their intrinsic electric double-layer mechanism severely hinders their practical applications. In addition, the complicated preparation processes of most porous carbon nanomaterials previously reported is less impressive for large-scale application. In this work, we report an efficient and simple method to synthesize porous N doped carbon (PNC) on flexible carbon cloth as high-performance electrode for SCs. Benefiting from the unique porous architecture and high N dopant content, the as-fabricated PNC electrode delivers excellent capacitive performance. A high areal capacitance of 682.8 mF cm−2 at 2 mA cm−2 and outstanding cycling performance (less than 4% capacitance fading after 10,000 cycles) is achieved by this PNC electrode. This work opens up new opportunities in developing advanced carbon-based electrode for energy storage.