Effects of CO2 activation on electrochemical performance of microporous carbons derived from poly(vinylidene fluoride)

•Microporous carbons (MPCs) were synthesized without activation process.•Next, we carried out the CO2 activation of MPCs with activation temperatures.•It had developed the micropores and introduced the O-functional groups to MPCs.•The highest specific capacitance: 125 F/g, an increase of 74% compared to MPCs.

In this work, we have prepared microporous carbons (MPCs) derived from poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), and the physical activation of MPCs using CO2 gas is subsequently carried out with various activation temperatures to investigate the electrochemical performance. PVDF is successfully converted into MPCs with a high specific surface area and well-developed micropores. After CO2 activation, the specific surface areas of MPCs (CA-MPCs) are enhanced by 12% compared with non-activated MPCs. With increasing activation temperature, the micropore size distributions of A-MPCs also become narrower and shift to larger pore size. It is also confirmed that the CO2 activation had developed the micropores and introduced the oxygen-containing groups to MPCs′ surfaces. From the results, the specific capacitances of the electrodes in electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs) based on CA-MPCs are distinctly improved through CO2 activation. The highest specific capacitance of the A-MPCs activated at 700 °C is about 125 F/g, an enhancement of 74% in comparison with NA-MPCs, at a discharge current of 2 A/g in a 6 M KOH electrolyte solution. We also found that micropore size of 0.67 nm has a specific impact on the capacitance behaviors, besides the specific surface area of the electrode samples.

Graphical abstractThe A-MPC samples with high specific surface area (ranging from 1030 to 1082 m2/g), corresponding to micropore sizes of 0.67 and 0.72 nm, and with the amount of oxygen-containing groups ranging from 3.2% to 4.4% have been evaluated as electrodes for EDLC applications. .Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide