Electrospinning of Porous Carbon Nanocomposites for Supercapacitor

Porous carbon/Cobalt (C/Co), carbon/Nickel (C/Ni) and carbon/Copper (C/Cu) nanocomposites were prepared by electrospinning and subsequent carbonization processes at 800 degrees C in N, atmosphere. Polymer solutions of polyacrylonitrile/ Cobalt acetate (PAN/Co(OAc)(2)), polyacrylonitrileNickel acetate (Ni(OAc)(2)) and polyacrylonitrile/Copper acetate (Cu(OAc)(2)) were used as the porous nanocomposites precursors, respectively. It was found that C/Co, C/Ni and C/Cu nanocomposites with diameters of 147 nm were successfully fabricated. X-ray diffraction was used to confirm the presence of metal particles in the nanocomposites. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis revealed that nanocomposites possess larger specific surface area than that of the carbon nanofibers (C). The electrochemical properties were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge-discharge tests. The C/Cu nanocomposite exhibited an energy density of 2.7 Whkg(-1), power density of 518 Wkg(-1), and a specific capacitance of about 183 Fg(-1) at a current density of 1 Ag-1.