Homogeneous activation induced by bacterial cellulose nanofibers to construct interconnected microporous carbons for enhanced capacitive storage

Porous carbons have been widely applied for capacitive energy storage, yet usually suffer from insufficient rate performance because of the sluggish ion transport kinetics in deep and multi-branched pores. Herein, we fabricated an interconnected microporous capacitive carbon (IMCC) by growing D (+)-glucosamine on bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers scaffold, followed by carbonization and activation. The BC nanofibers acted as a sacrificial template during pre-carbonization, facilitating the subsequent KOH permeation and homogeneous activation. By taking advantage of the interconnected microporous structure, the IMCC delivers a high capacitance of 302 F g(-1) at 1 A g(-1) and an excellent rate capability of 165 F g(-1) at 100 A g(-1) for aqueous supercapacitor, demonstrating its fast ion transport capability. Impressively, it also shows a superior gravimetric capacity of 177 mAh g(-1)at 0.5 A g(-1) and remains a high value of 72 mAh g(-1) at 20 A g(-1) as a cathode material for Zn-ion hybrid capacitor. This facile and cost-effective design strategy exhibits a great potential to construct carbohydrates-derived interconnected microporous carbon materials for high-rate energy storage. (c) 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A novel interconnected microporous capacitive carbon (IMCC) was fabricated by growing D (+)-glucosamine on bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers scaffold, followed by carbonization and activation. The IMCC exhibited excellent capacitance and rate capability due to its interconnected microporous structure, showing potential for high-rate energy storage applications.