Rational design of pyrrolic-N dominated carbon material derived from aminated lignin for Zn-ion supercapacitors

Jiajia Guo; Syed Comail Abbas; Hai Huang; Zifeng Hua; Md Manik Mian; Shilin Cao; Xiaojuan Ma; Yonghao Ni

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.03.056

Rational design of pyrrolic-N dominated carbon material derived from aminated lignin for Zn-ion supercapacitors

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Jul:641:155-165. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.03.056. Epub 2023 Mar 11.

Authors

Jiajia Guo¹, Syed Comail Abbas², Hai Huang¹, Zifeng Hua¹, Md Manik Mian², Shilin Cao³, Xiaojuan Ma⁴, Yonghao Ni⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B5A3, Canada.
³ College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China. Electronic address: scutcsl@163.com.
⁴ College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China. Electronic address: 1212juanjuan@163.com.
⁵ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B5A3, Canada. Electronic address: yonghao@unb.ca.

PMID: 36931214
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.03.056

Abstract

Developing highly efficient, sustainable carbon cathodes is essential for emerging Zn-ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZICs). Herein, lignin's novel chemical modification (amination) has been developed to produce high quantity pyrrolic-N moieties as active sites. Furthermore, chemically modified amine moieties in lignin are vital as a natural self-activating template to generate hierarchical porosity in the 2D (graphene-like) architecture with exceedingly high surface area (2926.4 m²g^-1). The rationally introduced dominated pyrrolic-N moieties boost the Zn-ion storage capacity and reaction kinetics due to the dual energy storage mechanism and efficient charge transfer between pyrrolic-N and Zn⁺² ions. Furthermore, the pyrrolic-N species are energetically favorable for the adsorption of Zn⁺² ions by the formation of N-Zn⁺² chemical bonds. Besides, the nitrogen oxides reduce the intrinsic resistance and induce a more polarized surface, resulting in high wettability and efficient transfer of electrolytes into the pores of hydrophobic carbon materials. Subsequently, the chemically modified lignin-derived activated carbon material (Chem-ACM) as a cathode in ZICs delivers a high capacity of 161.2 mA h g^-1 at 1 A g^-1 with the admirable energy density of 106.7 W h kg^-1 at 897 W kg^-1 and excellent retention capacity (94%) after 10,000 cycles. Mainly, the assembled quasi solid-state ZICs using Chem-ACM retains the remarkable storage capacity (202 mA h g^-1 at 0.2 Ag^-1) even at a high bending angle. Notably, the Chem-ACM has been further employed in symmetric supercapacitors as an electrode, and it displays exceptional specific capacitance of 354 Fg^-1 at 0.5 Ag^-1 with tremendous energy (43.5 W h kg^-1) and the power density (0.53 kW kg^-1). Additionally, the charge storage capability of Chem-ACM is positively dependent on high nitrogen contents, and it is extrapolated that pyrrolic-N moieties are dominant active sites. Hence, the designed amination-assisted biocarbon synthesis provides a new way to prepare high nitrogen-containing biocarbon for ZICs and further understand pyrrolic-N species' impact on Zn-ion storage.

Keywords: Activated carbon; Amination; Hybrid supercapacitors; Lignin; Pyrrolic nitrogen.