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Nitrogen and sulfur co-doped hierarchical graphene hydrogel for high-performance electrode materials

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Abstract

In this investigation, nitrogen and sulfur co-doped graphene hydrogel (N,S-GH) with well-connected hierarchical networks was prepared using a simple one-step process. The hierarchical structures provide electrically conductive channels for ion transfer, whereas N,S heteroatoms improve the chemical reactivity and pseudocapacitance of the electrode material. An optimized N,S-GH as a bind-free supercapacitor electrode demonstrates a large gravimetric capacitance (294.8 F g−1 at 1 A g−1), long lifetime (89.4% retention after 10,000 cycles), and excellent rate capability, twice as that of pure GH due to the synergistic effect of N and S doping. Therefore, a large capacitance of the optimized N,S-GH is ascribed to fast ion diffusion, large accessible area (hierarchical network), and pseudocapacitance (N and S co-doping). Furthermore, the optimized N,S-GH-based supercapacitor delivers a high energy density (8.6 Wh kg−1) at a high power density (2.4 kW kg−1). Overall, the obtained N,S-GH through this investigation presents a promising electrode material with outstanding electrochemical properties for energy storage applications.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support of National Natural Science Foundation of China (11890674).

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  1. Fei Dang and Wei Zhao have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, School of Aerospace Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, China

    Fei Dang, Pengfei Yang & Yilun Liu

  2. School of Chemical Engineering, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710069, China

    Wei Zhao

  3. Key Laboratory of E&M (Zhejiang University of Technology), Ministry of Education & Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310014, China

    Huaping Wu

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  1. Fei Dang
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  2. Wei Zhao
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Dang, F., Zhao, W., Yang, P. et al. Nitrogen and sulfur co-doped hierarchical graphene hydrogel for high-performance electrode materials. J Appl Electrochem 50, 463–473 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-020-01404-5

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