Preparation and Characterization of porous Carbon/Nickel Nanofibers for Supercapacitor

Two polymer solutions of polyacrylonitrile, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, and Ni(CH3COOH)2 in dimethylformamide were electrospun into ternary composite nanofibers, followed by stabilization and carbonization processes to obtain porous carbon/nickel composite nanofibers with diameters of 100–200 nm. The study revealed that carbon/nickel composite nanofibers were successfully prepared, which allowed nickel particles with diameters of 20–70 nm to be uniformly distributed in the carbon nanofibers. It was also observed that the fibrous structures with particles embedded formed and the fibers broke into shorter fibers after sintering. X-ray diffraction indicated that embedded particles crystallized with the face centered cubic structure. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis revealed that carbon/nickel composite nanofibers with meso-pores possessed larger specific surface area than that of carbon nanofibers. The specific capacitance of the composite nanofiber electrode was as high as 103.8 F/g and showed stable cyclicity (73.8%).

[1]  Young-Seak Lee,et al.  High-sensitivity gas sensor using electrically conductive and porosity-developed carbon nanofiber , 2011 .

[2]  Xungai Wang,et al.  Preparation, structure and supercapacitance of bonded carbon nanofiber electrode materials , 2011 .

[3]  K. Chattopadhyay,et al.  Preparation of graphene–polyaniline composites by simple chemical procedure and its improved field emission properties , 2011 .

[4]  Mingwu Shen,et al.  Improved cellular response on multiwalled carbon nanotube-incorporated electrospun polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan nanofibrous scaffolds. , 2011, Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces.

[5]  Q. Wei,et al.  Effects of ferric chloride on structure, surface morphology and combustion property of electrospun polyacrylonitrile composite nanofibers , 2011 .

[6]  Harold G. Craighead,et al.  Applications of controlled electrospinning systems , 2011 .

[7]  Jooho Moon,et al.  Co-electrospun Pd-coated porous carbon nanofibers for hydrogen storage applications , 2011 .

[8]  Mingwu Shen,et al.  Electrospun poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/halloysite nanotube composite nanofibers for drug encapsulation and sustained release , 2010 .

[9]  M. Blazewicz,et al.  Production of carbon fibers modified with ceramic powders for medical applications , 2010 .

[10]  Wei Liu,et al.  Properties of Electrospun Polyacrylonitrile Membranes and Chemically-activated Carbon Nanofibers , 2010 .

[11]  A. Ōya,et al.  Activation of polymer blend carbon nanofibres by alkaline hydroxides and their hydrogen storage performances , 2009 .

[12]  H. Tavanai,et al.  Effects of fiber diameter and CO2 activation temperature on the pore characteristics of polyacrylonitrile based activated carbon nanofibers , 2009 .

[13]  Songting Tan,et al.  Nickel/carbon nanofibers composite electrodes as supercapacitors prepared by electrospinning , 2009 .

[14]  Satish Kumar,et al.  Structure and electrochemical properties of activated polyacrylonitrile based carbon fibers containing carbon nanotubes , 2008 .

[15]  Wan-Jin Lee,et al.  Preparation of the novel manganese-embedded PAN-based activated carbon nanofibers by electrospinning and their toluene adsorption , 2008 .

[16]  M. J. Kim,et al.  Diffusion Studies of Copper on Ruthenium Thin Film A Plateable Copper Diffusion Barrier , 2004 .

[17]  K. Sing.  Reporting physisorption data for gas/solid systems with special reference to the determination of surface area and porosity (Recommendations 1984) , 1985 .