Synthesis and characterization of semiconducting porous carbon for energy applications and CO2 adsorption

•Semiconducting carbon material was prepared by a two step method.•Specific capacitance of carbonized materials was found to be 86 F g−1.•HCP was prepared by a simple Friedel Crafts alkylation route.•With their micropores they can be good sorbents for hazardous gases such as NOx, SO2 and VOCs.

In this paper we report a semiconducting porous carbon material for supercapacitor application. Semiconducting carbon material was prepared by two step method. First, hypercross-linked polymers (HCPs) of phloroglucinol and α,α′-dichloro-p-xylene was prepared by a simple Friedel Crafts alkylation, and second, the synthesized microporous HCPs was subjected into carbonization at 700 °C in a helium atmosphere. The carbonized sample was characterized into cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in 1 M sodium sulphate aqueous solution for supercapacitor applications. The specific capacitance of carbonized materials is found to be 86 F g−1 at a current density of 0.1 A g−1.

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