title: Interconnected Hierarchical Porous Carbon from Lignin-Derived Byproducts of Bioethanol Production for Ultra-High Performance Supercapacitors.
abstract: The advent of bioethanol production has generated abundant lignin-derived byproducts which contain proteins and polysaccharides. These byproducts are inapplicable for direct material applications. In this study, lignin-derived byproducts were used for the first time as carbon precursors to construct an interconnected hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped carbon (HPNC) via hydrothermal treatment and activation. The obtained HPNC exhibited favorable features for supercapacitor applications, such as hierarchical bowl-like pore structures, a large specific surface area of 2218 m(2) g(-1), a high electronic conductivity of 4.8 S cm(-1), and a nitrogen doping content of 3.4%. HPNC-based supercapacitors in a 6 M KOH aqueous electrolyte exhibited high-rate performance with a high specific capacitance of 312 F g(-1) at 1 A g(-1) and 81% retention at 80 A g(-1) as well as an excellent cyclic life of 98% initial capacitance after 20 000 cycles at 10 A g(-1). Moreover, HPNC-based supercapacitors in the ionic liquid electrolyte of EMI-BF4 displayed an enhanced energy density of 44.7 Wh kg(-1) (remaining 74% of max value) at an ultrahigh power density of 73.1 kW kg(-1). The proposed strategy may facilitate lignin utilization and lead to a green bioethanol production process.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, Beijing Forestry University , Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, Beijing Forestry University , Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, Beijing Forestry University , Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Tian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, Beijing Forestry University , Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, Beijing Forestry University , Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
keywords: bioethanol production; hierarchical porous carbon; lignin-derived byproducts; nitrogen-doped; supercapacitors