Mesoporous N-containing carbon nanosheets towards high-performance electrochemical capacitors

We developed a direct carbonization strategy to efficiently fabricate mesoporous N-containing carbon nanosheets (N-CNSs) by using polyaniline nanosheets as a carbon precursor. Physicochemical characterizations revealed that the as-synthesized N-CNSs with 5.9 wt.% N species possessed a well-developed mesoporous architecture with large specific surface area of 352 m2 g−1, high mesoporous volume of 0.32 cm3 g−1, and average pore size of ∼5.2 nm. When further utilized as an electrode for electrochemical capacitors, the mesoporous N-CNSs delivered a large specific capacitance of 239 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1, and even 197 F g−1 at a high current load of 8 A g−1, indicating its good rate behavior. Furthermore, the capacitance degradation of ∼4% over continuous 5000 charge–discharge cycles at 6 A g−1 further verified its good electrochemical stability at high rates for long-term electrochemical capacitors application.