3D Hierarchical Porous Carbon for Supercapacitors Prepared from Lignin through a Facile Template-Free Method

Lignin-derived hierarchical porous carbon (LHPC) was prepared through a facile template-free method. Solidification of the lignin-KOH solution resulted in KOH crystalizing within lignin. The crystalized KOH particles in solid lignin acted both as template and activating agent in the heat-treatment process. The obtained LHPC, exhibiting a 3D network, consisted of macroporous cores, mesoporous channels, and micropores. The LHPC comprised 12.27at% oxygen-containing groups, which resulted in pseudocapacitance. The LHPC displayed a capacitance of 165.0Fg(-1) in 1M H2SO4 at 0.05Ag(-1), and the capacitance was still 123.5Fg(-1) even at 10Ag(-1). The LHPC also displayed excellent cycling stability with capacitance retention of 97.3% after 5000 galvanostatic charge-discharge cycles. On account of the facile preparation of LHPC, this paper offers a facile alternative method for the preparation of hierarchical porous carbon for electrochemical energy storage devices.