Sulfur-doped laser-induced graphene derived from polyethersulfone and lignin hybrid for all-solid-state supercapacitor

Developing a simple and effective high-performance all-solid-state graphene-based mircosupercapacitor (MSC) by using biomass wastes as raw materials has attracted excellent interest. Here we report a scalable approach for producing sulfur-doped porous three-dimensional (3D) graphene materials from lignin and polyethersulfone (PES) films by using a facile laser direct writing (LDW) technique. In the lignin-PES (L-P) film, lignin, a waste by-product generated in paper industry, was served as a sustainable and economic carbon source, while PES was employed as a sulfur source and adhesive. The lignin-PES film can be transformed into sulfur-doped laser-induced graphene (LIG) by scribing under CO2 laser in ambient condition. Furthermore, the MSCs were fabricated directly using two L-P LIG electrodes as electrode materials, and H2SO4/PVA gel as electrolyte. The results indicate L-P LIG MSCs exhibit excellent electrochemical performances, namely, high areal capacitance (22 mF cm(-2)), superhigh areal energy density of 1.53 mwh cm(-2) at the areal power density of 25.4 mw cm(-2), which outperform many LIG-based supercapacitors. The concept of designing MSCs obtained with a simple laser-induced technology can inspire both the building MSCs, preparation of graphene, and the sustainable application of lignin.

Automated summary

This study presents a simple and effective method to develop high-performance microsupercapacitors using sulfur-doped three-dimensional graphene materials produced from lignin and polyethersulfone films. The microsupercapacitors fabricated with these materials showed excellent electrochemical performances, indicating the potential for sustainable applications in both energy storage and graphene preparation.