Simple synthesis of porous carbon sheet by reduction reaction of in-situ formed carbon dioxide for supercapacitor application

Porous carbon sheet (PCS) was prepared by reduction reaction between NaBH4 and the in-situ formed CO2 gas from the thermal-decomposition of NaHCO3 under inert atmosphere. During this preparation process, NaHCO3 also could be used as the activation agent and increases the specific surface area of carbon materials. The obtained PCS has a specific surface area of 828 m2/g. At a current density of 0.5 A/g, the specific capacitance of the PCS electrode is 201 F/g. Furthermore, the PCS electrode exhibits excellent rate capability (80% capacitance retention at 15 A/g) and superior cycling stability. These results suggest a facile and environmental benign method to prepare economical and high quality porous carbon sheet materials for energy storage applications. Keywords: Carbon materials, Porous materials, Carbon dioxide, NaBH4, Supercapacitor