Electrospun N‐Doped Porous Carbon Nanofibers Incorporated with NiO Nanoparticles as Free‐Standing Film Electrodes for High‐Performance Supercapacitors and CO2 Capture

• Published in: Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) Germany), 2018-04, Vol.14 (15), p.e1704203-n/a
• Main Authors: Li, Qi, Guo, Jiangna, Xu, Dan, Guo, Jianqiang, Ou, Xu, Hu, Yin, Qi, Haojun, Yan, Feng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetylacetone; Carbon dioxide; Carbon fibers; Carbon sequestration; CO2 capture; Dispersion; Electrodes; Electrospinning; electrospun; Electrowinning; Energy storage; Multifunctional materials; Nanofibers; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Nickel oxides; NiO nanoparticles; porous carbon nanofibers; Specific surface; Supercapacitors; Surface area; Synergistic effect
• ISSN: 1613-6810; 1613-6829
• DOI: 10.1002/smll.201704203

Carbon nanofibers (CNF) with a 1D porous structure offer promising support to encapsulate transition‐metal oxides in energy storage/conversion relying on their high specific surface area and pore volume. Here, the preparation of NiO nanoparticle‐dispersed electrospun N‐doped porous CNF (NiO/PCNF) and as free‐standing film electrode for high‐performance electrochemical supercapacitors is reported. Polyacrylonitrile and nickel acetylacetone are selected as precursors of CNF and Ni sources, respectively. Dicyandiamide not only improves the specific surface area and pore volume, but also increases the N‐doping level of PCNF. Benefiting from the synergistic effect between NiO nanoparticles (NPs) and PCNF, the prepared free‐standing NiO/PCNF electrodes show a high specific capacitance of 850 F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1 in 6 m KOH aqueous solution, good rate capability, as well as excellent long‐term cycling stability. Moreover, NiO NPs dispersed in PCNF and large specific surface area provide many electroactive sites, leading to high CO2 uptake, and high‐efficiency CO2 electroreduction. The synthesis strategy in this study provides a new insight into the design and fabrication of promising multifunctional materials for high‐performance supercapacitors and CO2 electroreduction. N‐doped porous carbon nanofibers incorporated with NiO nanoparticles are prepared by electrospinning, and applied as a free‐standing film electrode for electrochemical supercapacitors. The prepared porous carbon composite nanofibers show high specific capacitance, excellent long‐term cycling stability, as well as high electrocatalytic activity for CO2.