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Preparation of polyimide-based activated carbon fibers and their application as the electrode materials of electric double-layer capacitors

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Abstract

In this study, polyimide (PI)-based activated carbon fibers (ACFs) were prepared for application as electrode materials in electric double-layer capacitors by varying the steam activation time for the PI fiber prepared under identical cross-linking conditions. The surface morphology and microcrystal structural characteristics of the prepared PI-ACFs were observed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry, respectively. The textural properties (specific surface area, pore volume, and pore size distribution) of the ACFs were calculated using the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, Barrett–Joyner–Halenda, and non-local density functional theory equations based on N2/77 K adsorption isotherm curve measurements. From the results, the specific surface area and total pore volume of PI-ACFs were determined to be 760–1550 m2/g and 0.36–1.03 cm3/g, respectively. It was confirmed that the specific surface area and total pore volume tended to continuously increase with the activation time. As for the electrochemical properties of PI-ACFs, the specific capacitance increased from 9.96 to 78.64 F/g owing to the developed specific surface area as the activation time increased.

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Funding

This research was supported by the Carbon Industry Foundation project no. 20016795 (development of manufacturing technology independence of advanced activated carbons and application for high-performance supercapacitor) and project no. 20016774 (development of activated carbon fiber and module for vaporization solvent recovery) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy of the Republic of Korea. This research was also supported by the Nano-Material Technology Development Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2019M3A7B9071501) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Material Application Research Institute, Jeonju University, Jeonju, 55069, Republic of Korea

    Da-Jung Kang, Kay-Hyeok An & Byung-Joo Kim

  2. Convergence Research Division, Korea Carbon Industry Promotion Agency, Jeonju, 54853, Republic of Korea

    Hye-Min Lee

  3. Department of Advanced Materials and Chemical Engineering, Jeonju University, Jeonju, 55069, Republic of Korea

    Kay-Hyeok An & Byung-Joo Kim

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Conceptualization, B-JK; Data curation, D-JK,H-ML and B-JK; Formal analysis, D-JK; Funding acquisition, K-HA and B-JK; Investigation, D-JK and H-ML; Methodology, B-JK; Project administration, H-ML; Resources, K-HA and B-JK; Software, D-JK, H-ML; Supervision, H-ML, K-HA and B-JK; Validation, D-JK, H-ML, K-HA and B-JK; Visualization, D-JK; Writing—original draft, D-JK; Writing—review and editing, D-JK, H-ML, K-HA and B-JK All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Kang, DJ., Lee, HM., An, KH. et al. Preparation of polyimide-based activated carbon fibers and their application as the electrode materials of electric double-layer capacitors. Carbon Lett. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-024-00705-5

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