Biomass-derived N, S co-doped activated carbon-polyaniline nanorod composite electrodes for high-performance supercapacitors

The use of electrode materials with a rationally designed architecture is imperative for the progression of high-performance supercapacitors (SCs). Herein, a facile approach for synthesizing high-performance composite electrodes using polyaniline nanorod modified biomass-derived N, S co-doped activated carbon (NSAC-PANI). This material effectively combines the merits of highly conductive activated carbon, a hierarchical porous structure, a high specific surface area, and a high theoretical capacitance of PANI. Benefiting from high conductivity, fast ion transport, and shorter ion diffusion path within the NSAC-PANI-2 electrode, it exhibits high specific capacitances of 304 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 in 1 M H2SO4. Furthermore, the symmetric SC assembled by NSAC-PANI-2 shows a high energy density of 23.6 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 395 W kg−1, and retains 90.2% of initial capacitance after 5,000 cycles. The low cost, simple synthesis route, and superior electrochemical performance of composite electrodes provide further insight into energy storage applications.