Supercapacitive properties of porous carbon nanofibers via the electrospinning of metal alkoxide-graphene in polyacrylonitrile

The polar group SiOC introduction was made into the carbon nanofibers, and the resulting carbon nanofiber composite (CNFC) electrodes were evaluated as an electrochemical capacitor. Simple thermal treatment of the electrospun nanofibers from the blend solution of tetraethyl orthosilicate and graphene with polyacrylonitrile introduced suitable micropores to accommodate many ions without a pore creation step such as oxidative activation. The supercapacitor electrode prepared with 3 wt% graphene showed high specific capacitance of 144.80 Fg−1, energy density of 18.49–10.83 Whkg−1 in the respective range of 400–30,000 Wkg−1 in 6 M KOH aqueous solution. The specific capacitance and energy density were 2 and 3 times higher, respectively, in comparison with pristine CNF.

► The CNFC electrodes were prepared by electrospinning the blends of TEOS and graphene with PAN, followed by simple thermal treatment.
► The polar group SiOC introduction was made into the CNFs, and the resulting CNFCs were then evaluated as an electrochemical capacitor.
► The enhanced power/energy densities are ascribed to the morphological structure of the SiOC related structure.