Mesoporous nitrogen-doped graphene aerogels with enhanced rate capability towards high performance supercapacitors

In this work, a novel preparation method and architecture of mesoporous nitrogen-doped graphene aerogels (GAs) using electrostatic attraction are reported. The sacrificial template, positively charged SiO₂ nanoparticles by using (3-Animopropyl) triethoxysilane (3-APTS), can significantly decrease the spacing between graphene oxide sheets, due to the strong electrostatic attraction between the graphene oxide and SiO₂. After the etching of templates, the ratio of mesopores is greatly increased, and the electrochemical performances of electrodes are enhanced. The mesoporous GAs yield an enhanced specific capacitance of 203 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g, and a capacitance fade of only 8.95% at a high current density of 20 A/g, indicating improved ion transport in mesoporous architecture. The controllable synthesized method can be further applied to prepare other mesoporous materials and such mesoporous nitrogen-doped GAs have great potential in high rate performance supercapacitors.