Preparation of porous carbon nanofibers derived from graphene oxide/polyacrylonitrile composites as electrochemical electrode materials

Porous carbon nanofibers (CNFs) derived from graphene oxide (GO) were prepared from the carbonization of electrospun polyacrylonitrile nanofibers with up to 15 wt.% GO at 1200 °C, followed by a low-temperature activation. The activated CNFs with reduced GOs (r-GO) revealed a specific surface area and adsorption capacity of 631 m2/g and 191.2 F/g, respectively, which are significantly higher than those of pure CNFs (16 m2/g and 3.1 F/g). It is believed that rough interfaces between r-GO and CNFs introduce oxygen pathways during activation, help to produce large amounts of all types of pores compared to pure activated CNFs.