Rapid carbon activation via microwave irradiation of nongraphitic carbon doped with metallic potassium and tetrahydrofuran (THF)

We report here a rapid process to synthesize microporous carbon from nongraphitic carbon source through microwave-assisted exfoliation in a non-inert environment. A ternary compound of potassium-nongraphitic carbon-tetrahydrofuran (THF) was prepared and then heating by microwave irradiation for 2 min widens the interstices between adjacent graphene layers in ternary compound, inducing microporous texture with a large amount of ultramicropores. Exploiting microwave heating allows for efficient and rapid synthesis of activated carbon compared with commonly used chemical activation process. After microwave irradiation on nongraphitic carbon, the constituent stacked graphene layers were broken and the specific surface area of 563 m2 g−1 was developed. The feasibility of an electrode material for supercapacitor was estimated by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling. The specific areal capacitance reveals as high as 16.4 μF cm−2 in 1 M NaNO3 aqueous solution, which is significantly larger than values found in traditional activated carbons made for use in electrochemical double layer capacitors. Without restrictive processing conditions of chemical activation, microporous structure carbon can be efficiently and rapidly synthesized via microwave irradiation for possible electrochemical capacitor electrode.