Synthesis of mesoporous graphitic carbon fibers with high performance for supercapacitor

Based on the expected high surface area and electrical conductivity, porous carbon attracts most attention as the potential materials on electrochemistry. Herein, mesoporous graphitic carbon fibers, with large surface areas (870-1790 m2/g) and high pore volumes (0.729-1.308 cm3/g), were synthesized by electrospinning method using PF resin and polyvinylpyrrolidone as carbon sources and triblock copolymer Pluronic P123 (P123) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as mesoporous templates. Moreover, nickel nitrate was introduced as the catalyst to improve the graphitization degree. These mesoporous graphitic carbon fibers, for use as electrodes in electrochemical supercapacitors, show the high capacitance (303 F/g at 0.7 A/g), well retentively at various discharge current, and excellent cycling stability. The above enhanced performances can be ascribed to their fiber morphology, improved porous structure and graphitization degree.