Facile synthesis of highly graphitized porous carbon monoliths with a balance on crystallization and pore-structure

Abstract

An efficient strategy is developed for producing hierarchically porous graphite (HPG) monoliths with a bimodal pore structure through a confined graphitizing process with FeCl₃ as the catalyst. The microspace in a silica microreactor is used for molding and protecting the carbon structure without collapse during crystallization. Especially, the confined graphitization approach is favorable for forming highly crystallized graphite materials with large specific surface at low preparation temperature. It balances the benefits of a porous structure and degree of crystallization. Due to the outstanding physical and chemical properties, the graphitized porous carbon exhibits excellent electrochemical performances. HPG shows high sensitivity for use as sensing electrodes. Additionally, HPG also exhibits remarkable stabilization on capacitance at large current densities as a supercapacitor. There is hardly any loss in specific capacitance even with a charge current of 30 to 50 A g⁻¹.