Aesthetic synthesis and comparative study of graphitic carbon nitride for energy storage applications

ABSTRACT

Graphitic carbon nitride (gCN) has emerged as a suitable 2D material for various applications, such as photocatalysis, energy storage, and conversion. Due to their abundance of active sites, their unique layered structure, metal-free characteristics, high physicochemical stability, generous in nature, being environmentally friendly and having unique electrical characteristics. In this study, we use a one-step pyrolysis procedure to address these limitations and propose robust, low-cost, and scalable ways to synthesise materials. The synthesised gCN material graphitic phase is confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis, the layered structure of the sp₂ hybridised C-N bonding features is shown by FT-IR analysis. FESEM analyses provide insights into the morphology of gCN. Elemental identification and oxidation states were investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The electrochemical properties of gCN are performed using a two-electrode system with PVA/KOH electrolyte. The gCN nanostructure shows a specific capacitance of 183.20 F/g at a current density (CD) of 2 A/g, an energy density (ED) of 30.44 Wh/kg, and a power density (PD) of 2739.6 W/kg. Furthermore, the gCN nanostructure shows an excellent cycle life with 87.11% capacitance retention and 98.13% coulombic efficiency. These investigations clarify the electrochemical properties of gCN as an electrode material for supercapacitors.

KEYWORDS:

• Melamine
• galvanostatic charge and discharge
• energy density
• energy storage

Nomenclature

Table

Acknowledgements

The FESEM facility is provided by PURSUE laboratory, and the authors would like to thank Mangalore University for awarding a research fellowship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).