Facile synthesis of hierarchical porous carbon derived from carboxyl graphene oxide/phenolic foam for high performance supercapacitors

Abstract

Hierarchical porous carbon materials were prepared using a facile and low-cost method from phenolic resin and carboxyl graphene oxide by foaming and carbonization. Structural characterization revealed that the prepared materials consisted of macropores, mesopores and micropores from the foaming process, decomposition of the ester groups and carbonization of the polymer, respectively. Due to the advantages of a rational-distribution of porous structures and the excellent electrical conductivity, the best specific capacitance of the porous carbon materials could reach up to 272.6 F g-1 at a current density of 0.1 A g-1 and exhibited an excellent cycle life with 92.31% specific capacitance retained after 10, 000 cycles in KOH electrolyte. The symmetric supercapacitor based on the prepared material also exhibited a high energy density (15.20 W h kg-1) and power density (10.11 kW kg-1), indicating a promising electrode material for real energy storage in supercapacitors.