Titanium carbide derived nanoporous carbon for supercapacitor applications

Carbide derived carbons (CDCs) are porous carbons produced by extraction metals from metal carbides. In this paper, nanoporous carbon with large surface area of above 1000 m2/g has been prepared by thermo-chemical etching of titanium carbide (TiC) in chlorine atmosphere. An improved design of accurate control on the reaction time with high yield percentage above 98% is reported. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed the existence of ordered graphite phase in this mostly amorphous titanium carbide derived carbon (TiC-CDC), and the degree of ordering increased with chlorination temperature. Raman spectra study demonstrated that the TiC-CDC consisted of both D-band and G band of graphitic carbon, and the ratio of the integrated intensities ID/IG decreased with chlorination temperature. T-plot nitrogen sorption measurements proved the co-existence of micropores (<2 nm) and mesopores (2–50 nm), while the highest specific surface area was achieved from sample synthesized at 400 °C. Cyclic voltammetry measurements on the TiC-CDC did not show any major Faradic reactions within the experimental voltage range. A specific capacitance of 138.3 F/g was achieved from sample synthesized at 400 °C. The specific capacitance increased with increasing the amount of microporous area.