High performance carbon supercapacitor electrodes derived from a triazine-based covalent organic polymer with regular porosity

Abstract A series of highly microporous carbon materials was produced by carbonization of a triazine-based covalent organic polymer (TCOP) followed by carbonization and CO 2 physical activation. The N-containing porous COP was prepared from easily available economic monomer precursors via a simple Friedel-Crafts reaction, which produced a predominantly microporous structure with a high surface area. Carbonization at 600–900 °C produced predominantly microporous carbons with a narrow pore size distribution in the range of 0.5–1.5 nm. Upon further activation using CO 2 , more micropores were formed, accompanied by an increase in the surface area (to 2003 m 2  g −1 ) and the nitrogen level in the carbon structure was maintained at ca. 2 wt%. The electrochemical properties of the samples were measured by employing a three-electrode system with 6 M KOH electrolyte. Among the prepared carbon samples, the electrode fabricated using the carbon activated at 900 °C (AC-900) had a specific capacitance of 278 F g −1 at a current density of 1 A g −1 , which is significantly higher than that of a commercial activated carbon (130 F g −1 ) and ranks among the highest reported so far. This improved performance was attributed to the highly microporous structure of the nitrogen-doped carbon with a narrow pore size distribution.