Hydrothermal synthesis of Cu2O/CuO/hierarchical porous N-doped activated carbon with exceptional electrochemical performance

In this work, the application of composite electrode materials composed of carbon materials and transition metal oxides as electrodes for supercapacitors is reported. In situ N-doped activated carbon (NAC) is prepared by carbonization and KOH activation using polyurethane as raw material, and then Cu(CH3NOO)2 as copper source is used to prepare hierarchical porous N-doped activated carbon (Cu2O/CuO@NAC) through impregnation adsorption and hydrothermal treatment. The results show that the Cu2O/CuO@NAC composites have high specific surface area and 3D hierarchical porous structure with Cu2O/CuO loading on the surface and in the pores of the activated carbon, which is favorable for the capacitive performance. The Cu2O/CuO@NAC exhibits a remarkable specific capacitance of 1393.4 F g-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g-1. Therefore, the composite electrode materials of activated carbon and copper oxide represent good prospects for application in supercapacitors.