Silica-assisted strategy towards hierarchically porous carbon nanofibers for supercapacitor

Hierarchically porous carbon nanofibers (HPCF) have become the fundamental interest in carbon-based supercapacitor due to the characteristics of high inter-connected together hierarchical pore structure, high ion reachable surface area, and large aspect ratio et al. However, it remains a significant challenge to design and synthesize HPCF by simple and most effective method. Herein, a green and straightforward silica-assisted strategy is demonstrated to construct HPCF with tunable morphologies. The porous structure as well as the morphology of HPCF can be modulated by changing the reaction temperature and dosage of silica source. The optimized HPCF with high specific surface area of 1407 m 2 g −1 can be obtained and it exhibits a high gravimetric capacitance of 314 F g −1 as well as an ultra-long cycling stability of 92.5% capacity retention after 10,000 cycles when used as electrode material in a three electrode-system for supercapacitor. Furthermore, experiment shows that 2.2 V light-emitting diodes are effortlessly lit by two series-wound HPCF devices in 1 M Na 2 SO 4 electrolyte, indicating its high potential for practical applications. • Carbon nanofibers are synthesized by a silica-assisted strategy. • Temperature and silica dosage are the key facts for properties. • Two series-wound HPCF devices can effortlessly lit 2.2 V LED.