Heteroatom-doped mesoporous carbon nanofibers based on highly cross-linked hybrid polymeric nanofibers: Facile synthesis and application in an electrochemical supercapacitor

• Facile synthesis of carbon nanofibers based on unique highly cross-linked organic–inorganic hybrid polymeric nanofibers.
• The carbon nanofibers were of high content of heteroatoms, large BET surface, and uniform mesopore.
• The carbon nanofibers showed excellent supercapacitor performance.

Heteroatom-doped mesoporous carbon nanofibers (HMCNFs) were prepared by direct carbonization of highly cross-linked organic–inorganic hybrid polymeric nanofibers (PNFs) under an inert atmosphere. The HMCNFs were of large Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area, uniform mesopore (with diameter 4 nm), and high content of heteroatoms. Electrodes prepared by using HMCNFs showed a high specific capacitance of 214.9 F/g in 6 M KOH electrolyte, because of the large BET surface area and high content of heteroatoms. This work involved preparation of carbon nanofibers from a novel precursor and used the nanofibers in the fabrication of high-performance supercapacitor electrodes.