Electrochemical properties for high surface area and improved electrical conductivity of platinum-embedded porous carbon nanofibers

Abstract

Four different types of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) for electrical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs), porous and non-porous CNFs with and without Pt metal nanoparticles, are synthesized by an electrospinning method and their performance in electrical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) is characterized. In particular, the Pt-embedded porous CNFs (PCNFs) exhibit a high specific surface area of 670 m(2) g(-1), a large mesopore volume of 55.7%, and a low electrical resistance of 1.7 x 10(3). The synergistic effects of the high specific surface area with a large mesopore volume, and superior electrical conductivity result in an excellent specific capacitance of 130.2 F g(-1), a good high-rate performance, superior cycling durability, and high energy density of 16.9-15.4 W h kg(-1) for the performance of EDLCs. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.