Preparation and characterization of porous carbon based nanocomposite for supercapacitor

• Published in: Fibers and polymers 2014-06, Vol.15 (6), p.1236-1241
• Main Authors: Gao, Dawei, Wang, Lili, Yu, Jian, Wei, Qufu, Wang, Chunxia, Liu, Guoliang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Capacitance; Carbon fibers; CHEMICAL PROPERTIES; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; COMPOSITES; Copper; Current density; Density; Electrospinning; FIBERS; MICROSTRUCTURES; Nanofibers; Nanostructure; POLYACRYLONITRILE; Polymer Sciences; POROSITY
• ISSN: 1229-9197; 1875-0052
• DOI: 10.1007/s12221-014-1236-2

Porous nanocomposites are prepared by electrospinning blended polyacrylonitrile, copper acetate and mutiwalled carbon nanotube in N , N -dimethylformamide. The electrospun nanofiber webs are oxidatively stabilized and then carbonized resulting in composite carbon nanofibers. The study reveals that composite nanofibers with relatively smooth surface morphology are successfully prepared. X-ray diffraction is used to confirm the presence of Cu in carbon nanofibers. The carbon nanofibers with CNTs have better thermal stability and higher electrical conductivity. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis reveals that C/Cu/CNTs nanocomposites with mesopores possess larger specific surface area and narrower pore size distribution than that of C/Cu nanofibers. The electrochemical properties are investigated by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge tests. The nanocomposite with 0.5 wt.% CNT loading exhibits an energy density of 2 Whkg −1 , power density of 1916 Wkg −1 , a specific capacitance of about 225 Fg −1 at a current density of 2 Ag −1 and its capacitance decreased to 78 % of its initial value after 3,000 cycles.