Facile preparation of N- and O-doped hollow carbon spheres derived from poly(o-phenylenediamine) for supercapacitors

Abstract

Nitrogen and oxygen doped hollow carbon spheres (HCSs) have been prepared by pyrolysis of poly(o-phenylenediamine) (PoPD) submicrospheres, which were synthesized by a facile polymerization procedure with an environmental-friendly dopant glycine. Utilizing o-phenylenediamine (oPD) and glycine as the precursors, we are also motivated by the recognition that effective heteroatom doping increases the supercapacitor performance of carbon materials. The as-prepared N- and O- doped HCSs exhibit an enlarged specific surface area (∼355 m² g⁻¹) and pore volume (∼0.14 cm³ g⁻¹), and they have superior performance in supercapacitors owing to the synergies gained from effective heteroatom doping, their hollow structures, and their good mesoporosity. The reasonable capacitance performance coupled with the facile synthesis procedure suggests supercapacitor applications.