Zinc tartrate oriented hydrothermal synthesis of microporous carbons for high performance supercapacitor electrodes

A novel zinc tartrate oriented hydrothermal synthesis of microporous carbons was reported. Zinc–organic complex obtained via a simple chelation reaction of zinc ions and tartaric acid is introduced into the networks of resorcinol/formaldehyde polymer under hydrothermal condition. After carbonization process, the resultant microporous carbons achieve high surface area (up to 1255 m2/g) and large mean pore size (1.99 nm) which guarantee both high specific capacitance (225 F/g at 1.0 A/g) and fast charge/discharge operation (20 A/g) when used as a supercapacitor electrode. Besides, the carbon electrode shows good cycling stability, with ∼93% capacitance retention at 1.0 A/g after 1000 cycles. The well-designed and high-performance microporous carbons provide important prospects for supercapacitor applications.

Graphical abstractA novel zinc tartrate oriented hydrothermal synthesis of microporous carbons was demonstrated. The carbons achieve high surface area and large mean pore size which guarantee both high specific capacitance and fast charge/discharge operation in supercapacitor application.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide