Thiamine-Based Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Silicon Tri-doped Carbon for Supercapacitor Applications

This paper reports the synthesis of N, P, and Si tri-doped C (NPSiDC) using thiamine (a renewable resource material), silicone fluid, and ammonium polyphosphate. A one-pot microwave assisted method was utilized in synthesizing NPSiDC. The method is simple, rapid, and economical which does not employ any inert or reducing gases. Three variants of NPSiDCs were synthesized by varying the proportions of the precursor materials. NPSiDC-1 was found to have high specific surface area of 471 m2 g–1 and a single point total pore volume of 0.25 cm3 g–1. Raman spectroscopy results revealed the presence of defects in an sp2 C lattice. XPS analysis revealed the presence of N, P, Si, and O in C. NPSiDC-1 and NPSiDC-2 exhibited tremendous potential for supercapacitor applications with NPSiDC-1 recording highest specific capacitance value of 318 F g–1 in 6 M KOH. NPSiDCs were discovered to be electrochemically stable after 2000 cycles in 6 M KOH.