Novel collagen waste derived Mn-doped nitrogen-containing carbon for supercapacitors

Heteroatom doped carbon originated from natural and renewable biomass has recently attracted tremendous attention related to electrode material of supercapacitors. Herein, we reported a practical and facile strategy to synthesize Mn-doped N-containing carbon materials based on collagen waste obtained from leather processing for supercapacitors, and this method was applicable to most metals. Mn-doped N-containing carbon was fabricated primarily by chelating metal ions with bayberry tannin immobilized collagen fiber, followed by a carbonization treatment. The as-prepared Mn-doped N-containing carbon material exhibited a high specific capacitance (272.62 F g−1 at the current density of 1.0 A g−1), high rate capability (72.21% capacitance retention with increasing current density from 1 to 20 A g−1), and after 6000 cycles remained 81.4%. Especially, it showed favorable thermal stability under extreme conditions (264.9 F g−1 and 262.65 F g−1 at 60 °C and 0 °C water bath under the current density of 1 A g−1, respectively). The results indicated that Mn-doped N-containing carbon was a practically potential electrode material for supercapacitors.