Biomass-derived three-dimensional porous N-doped carbonaceous aerogel for efficient supercapacitor electrodes

Abstract

Functionalized carbonaceous materials with a hierarchical structure and developed porosity are highly desired in energy storage and conversion fields. In this work, a facile and scalable hydrothermal methodology was established to synthesise three-dimensional (3D) N-doped carbonaceous aerogels using biomass-based starting materials and polypyrrole as the N-source. The effect of different calcination temperatures on the structural properties, type and content of N-species and electrochemical performance of the 3D N-doped carbonaceous aerogels was revealed. Because of the combinatorial effect of the appropriate N content and porous structure, the obtained samples exhibited excellent electrochemical performance, in particular, an outstanding specific capacitance of 281.0 F g⁻¹ achieved for the sample calcined at 600 °C. This methodology offers a new fabrication strategy to prepare nanoscale carbonaceous materials with desirable morphology and a hierarchical architecture with great potential for applications in energy fields.