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Size-controllable synthesis of monodispersed nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres from polydopamine for high-rate supercapacitors

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Abstract

Monodispersed nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres with tunable particle size (100–230 nm) were synthesized via self-polymerization of biochemical dopamine in the presence of hexamethylenetetramine as a buffer and F127 as a size controlling agent. Hexamethylenetetramine can mildly release NH3, which in turn initiates the polymerization reaction of dopamine. The carbon nanospheres obtained exhibited a significant energy storage capability of 265 F·g−1 at 0.5 A·g−1 and high-rate performance of 82% in 6 mol·L−1 KOH (20 A·g−1), which could be attributed to the presence of abundant micro-mesoporous structure, doped nitrogen functional groups and the small particle size. Moreover, the fabricated symmetric supercapacitor device displayed a high stability of 94% after 5000 cycles, revealing the considerable potential of carbon nanospheres as electrode materials for energy storage.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No. ZR2019QEM005), Project of Shandong Province Higher Educational Young Innovative Talent Introduction and Cultivation Team [Environment Function Material Innovation Team].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, China

    Ning Zhang, Fu-Cheng Gao, Hong Liu, Ru-Liang Zhang, Qing Yu & Lei Liu

  2. College of Physics and State Key Laboratory of Bio Fibers and Eco Textiles, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Feng-Yun Wang

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  1. Ning Zhang
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  2. Fu-Cheng Gao
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  7. Lei Liu
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Correspondence to Lei Liu.

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Size-controllable synthesis of monodispersed nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres from polydopamine for high-rate supercapacitors

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Zhang, N., Gao, FC., Liu, H. et al. Size-controllable synthesis of monodispersed nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres from polydopamine for high-rate supercapacitors. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng. 17, 1788–1800 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-023-2326-8

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