In-situ growth of silicon carbide nanofibers on carbon fabric as robust supercapacitor electrode

Abstract Silicon carbide nanofibers (SiCnf) that possess high electron mobility and wide bandgap have attracted tremendous research attention in the past decades, and they have been of paramount importance in promoting the application of novel energy technologies. Herein, we proposed a facile and efficient method to accelerate the in-situ growth of SiCnf on a carbon fabric with fused KCl. The carbon fabric impregnated with KCl solution can realize an efficient reaction between the active carbon atom and the silicon source at a temperature as low as 1100 °C. The as-obtained composite yields a porous structure with an enhanced graphitization degree. It is suggested that the fused KCl can promote the growth of SiCnf with much lower energy consumption, and the proposed method is facile, eco-friendly, and easy to be scaled-up. When evaluated as a supercapacitor electrode, the as-prepared material exhibits a capacitance as high as 4.36 mF⋅cm−2 at a scan rate of 0.05 V⋅s−1. Furthermore, the capacitance of the as-assembled supercapacitor exhibits an increase of 6.51% after 10000 cycles at room temperature. Therefore, the prepared SiCnf is a good candidate for supercapacitor electrodes. This work may facilitate the design of high-performing supercapacitor electrodes in the future.