Design of graphitic carbon nitride nanowires with captured mesoporous carbon spheres for EDLC electrode materials

Graphitic carbon nitride/mesoporous carbon sphere composites were successfully synthesized using a simple, three-step treatment, and the effects of the mesoporous carbon sphere (MPCS) content on the electrochemical properties of the composites were studied. The MPCSs were homogeneously captured and dispersed on the prepared graphitic carbon nitride (GCN), forming a GCN/MPCS nanocomposite structure. These composite materials exhibited better electrochemical properties than previously reported electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) materials, such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, activated carbon, and carbon spheres. The addition of a small amount of mesoporous carbon spheres, typically 1:2 by weight (GCN/MPCS), to form GCN/MPCS(2) resulted in an excellent specific charge capacity of 352.44 F g−1 at a scan rate of 5 mV s−1. These results indicate the potential of the composite for the development of highly capacitive energy storage devices with practical applications.