Nonylphenol polybenzoxazines-derived nitrogen-rich porous carbon (NRPC)-supported g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanocomposite for efficient high-performance supercapacitor application.

Selvaraj, Kumar; Yu, Bin; Spontón, Marisa E; Kumar, Premnath; Veerasamy, Uma Shankar; Arulraj, Arunachalam; Mangalaraja, Ramalinga Viswanathan; Almarhoon, Zainab M et al. · Soft Matter · 2024

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

In this work, a straightforward and scalable method was used to generate nitrogen-rich porous carbon (NRPC), which was then incorporated with a graphitic carbon nitride and magnetite (g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>) nanocomposite, fabricated with Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanoparticles as an eco-friendly and economically viable component. The fabricated NRPC/g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanocomposite was applied as an electrode in supercapacitor applications. The synthesized NRPC/g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanocomposite, NRPC, g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>, and Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> were characterized by analytical and morphological analyses. The spherically shaped Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanoparticles were analyzed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The specific surface area of NRPC/g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> was determined to be 479 m<sup>2</sup> g<sup>-1</sup>. All the crosslinked composites showed exceptional electrochemical performance and exhibited a pseudo-capacitance behaviour. In comparison to the Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> and g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> electrodes, the NRPC/g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> electrode showed a lower charge-transfer resistance and higher capacitance. The prepared NRPC/g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> electrode exhibited the highest specific capacitance of 385 F g<sup>-1</sup> at 1 A g<sup>-1</sup> compared to Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> (112 F g<sup>-1</sup>) and g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> (150 F g<sup>-1</sup>). Furthermore, the cycling efficiency of NRPC/g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> remained at 94.3% even after 2000 cycles. The introduction of NRPC to g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> improved its suitability for application in high-performance supercapacitors.