Research Information System
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES, vol.273, pp.502-510, 2015 (SCI-Expanded)
Carbon nanofibers (CNFs), among various carbonaceous candidates for electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) electrodes, draw extensive attention because their one-dimensional architecture offers both shortened electron pathways and high ion-accessible sites. Creating porous structures on CNFs yields larger surface area and enhanced capacitive performance. Herein, porous carbon nanofibers (PCNFs) were synthesized via centrifugal spinning of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) solutions combined with thermal treatment and were used as binder-free EDLC electrodes. Three precursor fibers with PAN/PMMA weight ratios of 9/1, 7/3 and 5/5 were prepared and carbonized at 700, 800, and 900 C, respectively. The highest specific capacitance obtained was 144 F g(-1) at 0.1 A g(-1) with a rate capability of 74% from 0.1 to 2 A g(-1) by PCNFs prepared with PAN/PMMA weight ratio of 7/3 at 900 degrees C. These PCNFs also showed stable cycling performance. The present work demonstrates that PCNFs are promising EDLC electrode candidate and centrifugal spinning offers a simple, cost-effective strategy to produce PCNFs. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.