Synthesis of graphene oxide/polybenzoxazine-based nitrogen-containing porous carbon nanocomposite for enhanced supercapacitor properties

•A novel synthesis of graphene oxide (GO)/nitrogen-containing porous carbon (NC) nanocomposites was reported.•GO/NCs have hierarchical porous structure, large surface area, and high electrical conductivity.•GO/NC electrode shows high capacitance, rate capability, and good cycle durability.

A strategy for the fabrication of graphene oxide (GO) and nitrogen-containing porous carbon (NC) nanocomposites for high-performance supercapacitor electrodes was reported. Driven by the hydrogen bonding and covalent bonding between GO and benzoxazine, GO/NC nanocomposites with different GO content were prepared from a novel polybenzoxazine (PBZ) via a situ ring opening polymerization process coupled with KOH activation technique. The introduction of GO demonstrates a significant effect on the textural property, surface chemistry as well as the electrical conductivity of the nanocomposites, leading to remarkably improvement of the electrochemical behavior. A maximum specific capacitance of 405.6 F g−1 at a current density of 1.0 A g−1 was achieved for GO/NC nanocomposite electrode with GO content of 1.29 wt. % in 6 M KOH electrolyte solution. It also shows better rate capability (267.8 F g−1 at 40 A g−1) and cycle durability (95.8% capacitance retention over 5000 cycles) in comparison with the activated PBZ-based nanoporous carbon without GO. Additionally, the as-fabricated GO/NCs symmetric supercapacitor devices in 1 M Na2SO4 can realize a wide operational voltage of 1.8 V, and displays high energy density of 38.6 Wh kg−1 at the power density of 180 W kg−1, which still maintains 19.9 Wh kg−1 at 32.4 kW kg−1.

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