Evaluation of templated N/P co-doped hierarchical mesoporous biocarbon/2D-molybdenum disulfide/polypyrrole composite as a supercapacitor electrode for U(VI) electrosorption

In this work, a templated N/P co-doped hierarchical porous biocarbon was prepared through the carbonization of sugar at high temperature (700 °C). Then, this porous biocarbon was in-situ functionalized with molybdenum disulfide nanosheets through a hydrothermal treatment reaction to get the composite, SC/MoS2. Later, SC/MoS2 on a nickel foam substrate was electrodeposited with different concentrations of polypyrrole, a conducting polymer, at −0.9 V. The prepared composite electrodes (SC/MoS2/PPy) were characterized thoroughly using FTIR, XRD, BET, and SEM. The orderly developed mesoporosity and N, P doping inside the porous carbon network was found to be highly conducive for the U(VI) electrosorption accomplished through capacitive deionization (CDI). The composites had remarkable specific capacitance (95.4 F/g), a large specific surface area (174.4–273.6 m2/g), improved mesopore volume (0.58 cm3/g) and excellent Vm/Vt ratio (0.80). SC/MoS2/PPy-2, among other composites, revealed fast electrosorption kinetics and excellent selectivity with a maximum sorption capacity of 300.66 ± 8.02 mg/g at −0.9 V. The SC/MoS2/PPy-2 retained relatively small charge transfer resistance Rct (1.22 Ω cm2), minute electrolytic resistance Rs (0.77 cm2), and a large double layer constant phase element qdl (0.0369 S sn/cm2) which make it suitable for U(VI) ion diffusion and fast electron transfer during CDI performance. The composite electrode materials offer novel and potent desalination applications, specifically in uranium extraction from aqueous media.