Mesoporous nitrogen-rich carbons derived from protein for ultra-high capacity battery anodes and supercapacitors

TLDR

Deriving carbons that combine high surface area, partial graphitization, and high nitrogen content is a major challenge. This study demonstrates that biomass‑derived proteins can serve as an ideal precursor for synthesizing carbon materials for energy applications. The authors template mesoporous cellular foam with egg white‑derived proteins to produce hierarchically mesoporous, partially graphitized carbons with 805.7 m² g⁻¹ surface area and 10.1 wt % bulk nitrogen. The resulting carbons exhibit a reversible lithium storage capacity of 1780 mAh g⁻¹ and a supercapacitor capacitance of 390 F g⁻¹, with only 7 % loss after 10 000 cycles, and performance drops markedly when nitrogen is removed, underscoring the role of high surface area, partial graphitization, and bulk nitrogen.

Abstract

In this work we demonstrate that biomass-derived proteins serve as an ideal precursor for synthesizing carbon materials for energy applications. The unique composition and structure of the carbons resulted in very promising electrochemical energy storage performance. We obtained a reversible lithium storage capacity of 1780 mA h g−1, which is among the highest ever reported for any carbon-based electrode. Tested as a supercapacitor, the carbons exhibited a capacitance of 390 F g−1, with an excellent cycle life (7% loss after 10 000 cycles). Such exquisite properties may be attributed to a unique combination of a high specific surface area, partial graphitization and very high bulk nitrogen content. It is a major challenge to derive carbons possessing all three attributes. By templating the structure of mesoporous cellular foam with egg white-derived proteins, we were able to obtain hierarchically mesoporous (pores centered at ∼4 nm and at 20–30 nm) partially graphitized carbons with a surface area of 805.7 m2 g−1 and a bulk N-content of 10.1 wt%. When the best performing sample was heated in Ar to eliminate most of the nitrogen, the Li storage capacity and the specific capacitance dropped to 716 mA h g−1 and 80 F g−1, respectively.