Facile\nSynthesis of Highly Electrocapacitive Nitrogen-Doped\nGraphitic Porous Carbons

Abstract

The present study introduces a facile\nmethod to produce nitrogen-doped\ngraphitic porous carbons (NGPCs) with balanced pore size distribution\n(0.5–5 nm) and high surface area (above 3000 m² g^–1) by utilizing poly­acrylo­nitrile (PAN)\nas a precursor. The NGPCs are obtained by the stabilization of PAN\nat 290 °C and subsequent carbonization with KOH activation at\n700–800 °C. It is striking that the activation also changes\nthe morphology of PAN from a grape-like structure to a smooth porous\nstructure accompanying partial layer formations of nitrogen-doped\ngraphene. Generation of evenly distributed micro- and mesopores with\nhigh specific surface areas, heteroatom doping on the surface of NGPCs,\nand low resistance of NGPCs contribute to the enhanced capacitance\nas supercapacitor electrodes.