Enhanced Zn²⁺ storage kinetics in nitrogen-doped 3D porous carbon derived from sesame straw for hybrid supercapacitors
摘要
Nitrogen-doped 3D honeycomb-like porous carbons (SSACN-x, with “SSAC” representing Sesame Straw-derived Activated Carbon, “N” indicating nitrogen doping, and x specifying the mass ratio of urea to the pre-carbonized intermediate) were synthesized from sesame straw via carbonization, KOH activation, and urea-assisted doping to enhance ion/electron transport in zinc-ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZHSCs). The optimized SSACN-0.5 (i.e., x = 0.5) exhibits an ultrahigh surface area of 2928.47 m2 g-1 and hierarchical porosity with an average pore size of 1.96 nm, enabling rapid electrolyte infiltration and shortened ion diffusion pathways. XPS analysis reveals abundant pyridinic and pyrrolic nitrogen species, which act as redox-active sites for pseudocapacitance. EIS reveals a 54.4% reduction in Zn2+ diffusion resistance and an apparent ion diffusion coefficient of 2.607 × 10⁻¹¹ cm² s⁻¹. The electrode delivers a specific capacitance of 333.00 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1, retains 92% after 12,000 cycles, and exhibits a capacitive contribution exceeding 97% at 100 mV s-1. Even at a high mass loading of 12.88 mg cm-2, the full cell achieves 56.84 Wh kg-1 and powers a red LED for over 3 h, indicating promising practical viability. This work highlights the critical role of pore architecture and heteroatom doping in regulating interfacial electrochemistry and solid-state ion transport.