Nanoarchitectonics of porous carbon materials for supercapacitors using a strategy of direct mixing of biomass

Exploring biomass-based porous carbon electrode materials and regulating their pore structures remain a great challenge in the field of renewable energy storage devices. For our work, the mixture of bagasse and pleurotus geesteranus was used as carbon source, and a strategy based on the simple mixture of biomass was proposed to achieve the regulation of porous carbon structure. Through studying the co-pyrolysis process of the mixed system, a magic phenomenon that the lignocellulose of bagasse and the protein of the pleurotus geesteranus will have a Maillard reaction was found, promoting the pyrolysis of the mixed system. Since the degree of the pre-carbonized carbon etched by KOH was different, the pore structure of the carbon material can be regulated by adjusting the mixing ratio. Through this regulation strategy, porous carbon with larger pore volume than bagasse based carbon materials was prepared as the carbon electrode for supercapacitors. The specific capacitance of 322.5 F g-1 was obtained by using three-electrode system in the solution of KOH at 0.5 A g-1. In the solution of Na2SO4, the energy density of two-electrode system can reach 21 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 872 W kg- 1. Importantly, the simple preparation strategy provides an effective and green method to prepare advanced porous carbon electrode materials for high performance supercapacitor.