title: Superior pseudocapacitive behavior of confined lignin nanocrystals for renewable energy-storage materials.
abstract: Strong demand for high-performance energy-storage devices has currently motivated the development of emerging capacitive materials that can resolve their critical challenge (i.e., low energy density) and that are renewable and inexpensive energy-storage materials from both environmental and economic viewpoints. Herein, the pseudocapacitive behavior of lignin nanocrystals confined on reduced graphene oxides (RGOs) used for renewable energy-storage materials is demonstrated. The excellent capacitive characteristics of the renewable hybrid electrodes were achieved by synergizing the fast and reversible redox charge transfer of surface-confined quinone and the interplay with electron-conducting RGOs. Accordingly, pseudocapacitors with remarkable rate and cyclic performances (~96 % retention after 3000 cycles) showed a maximum capacitance of 432 F g(-1), which was close to the theoretical capacitance of 482 F g(-1) and sixfold higher than that of RGO (93 F g(-1)). The chemical strategy delineated herein paves the way to develop advanced renewable electrodes for energy-storage applications and understand the redox chemistry of electroactive biomaterials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Kyung Hee University, 1 Seocheon-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 446-701 (Republic of Korea).
authors.forename: Sung-Kon
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yun Ki
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyunjoo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sang Bok
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ho Seok
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D025802:Electric Capacitance; D004563:Electrochemistry; D004579:Electron Transport; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry; D059205:Renewable Energy
chemical_list: D010087:Oxides; D006108:Graphite; D008031:Lignin
keywords: capacitors; electrochemistry; nanostructures; polymers; renewable resources