Bio‐inspired and Eco‐friendly Synthesis of 3D Spongy Meso‐Microporous Carbons from CO2 for Supercapacitors. Issue 40 (1st June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yu, Ao; Ma, Guoming; Jiang, Jintian; Hu, Yajing; Su, Mingming; Long, Wangtao; Gao, Shixin; Hsu, Hsien‐Yi; Peng, Ping; Li, Fang‐Fang
• Is Part Of: Chemistry. Volume 27:Issue 40(2021)
• Page Start: 10405
• Page End: 10412
• Publication Date: 2021-06-01
• Subjects: CO2 capture and conversion -- electrochemical reduction -- molten salts -- spongy meso-microporous carbon -- supercapacitor; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/chem.202100998
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0947-6539

Abstract

Abstract: Inspired by the spongy bone structures, three‐dimensional (3D) sponge‐like carbons with meso‐microporous structures are synthesized through one‐step electro‐reduction of CO2 in molten carbonate Li2 CO3 −Na2 CO3 −K2 CO3 at 580 °C. SPC4‐0.5 (spongy porous carbon obtained by electrolysis of CO2 at 4 A for 0.5 h) is synthesized with the current efficiency of 96.9 %. SPC4‐0.5 possesses large electrolyte ion accessible surface area, excellent wettability and electronical conductivity, ensuring the fast and effective mass and charge transfer, which make it an advcanced supercapacitor electrode material. SPC4‐0.5 exhibits a specific capacitance as high as 373.7 F g −1 at 0.5 A g −1, excellent cycling stability (retaining 95.9 % of the initial capacitance after 10000 cycles at 10 A g −1 ), as well as high energy density. The applications of SPC4‐0.5 in quasi‐solid‐state symmetric supercapacitor and all‐solid‐state flexible devices for energy storage and wearable piezoelectric sensor are investigated. Both devices show considerable capacitive performances. This work not only presents a controllable and facile synthetic route for the porous carbons but also provides a promising way for effective carbon reduction and green energy production. Abstract : Inspired by the structure of spongy bone, we synthesized 3D sponge‐like porous carbons (SPCs) from CO2 in a home‐made electrolytic cell equipped with low‐temperature molten carbonate electrolyte. SPC4‐0.5 shows excellent electrochemical capacitance performance due to its large‐area meso‐microporous structure, excellent wettability and electronical conductivity. Our research presents a simple, eco‐friendly and low‐cost way towards production of functional carbon materials.