Electrospinning preparation of a large surface area, hierarchically porous, and interconnected carbon nanofibrous network using polysulfone as a sacrificial polymer for high performance supercapacitors

Carbon nanofibrous mats (CNFMs) are prepared by electrospinning of blended precursor of polyacrylonitrile and polysulfone (PSF) followed by pre-oxidation stabilization and carbonization. Addition of PSF as a sacrificial polymer leads to CNFMs with high surface area, large numbers of micropores and mesopores, good degree of carbonization, and interconnected fibrous network, due to the high decomposition temperature, release of SO2 during decomposition, and large amount of carbon residue of PSF during carbonization. The electrochemical characterization shows that the CNFM electrode has a specific capacitance of 272 F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1 with 74% of the specific capacitance retained at 50 A g−1 in 2.0 M KOH electrolyte. The CNFM electrodes have excellent cycling durability with 100% capacitance retention after 10 000 cycles.