Negatively Curved Porous Carbons for Secondary Battery Electrodes

Abstract

This research focuses on the synthesis of porous carbon structures with negative Gaussian curvature similar to the Schwarzite framework to be used as electrode materials in secondary batteries for energy storage. Ascorbic and citric acid were used as the carbon precursors and were carbonized within three types of zeolite templates (Y, Beta and ZSM-5), followed by template removal to obtain ZTCs. Structural order of the porous framework was assessed through XRD, morphology and pore interconnectivity revealed with SEM, elemental composition and verification of the template removal confirmed using EDS, electrical conductivity and charge transport assessed with EIS, and carbon order and defects evaluated using Raman. These results indicated that this templating strategy can generate a highly ordered porous interconnected carbon framework with a negative curvature which had high conductivity and structural stability. These Schwarzite-like carbons are promising candidate for use as electrode materials in next generation energy storage systems.