High electrochemical capacitor performance of oxygen and nitrogen enriched activated carbon derived from the pyrolysis and activation of squid gladius chitin

Activated carbon containing nitrogen functionalities exhibits excellent electrochemical property which is more interesting for several renewable energy storage and catalytic applications. Here, we report the synthesis of microporous oxygen and nitrogen doped activated carbon utilizing chitin from the gladius of squid fish. The activated carbon has large surface area of 1129 m² g⁻¹ with microporous network and possess ∼4.04% of nitrogen content in the form of pyridinic/pyrrolic-N, graphitic-N and N-oxide groups along with oxygen and carbon species. The microporous oxygen/nitrogen doped activated carbon is utilize for the fabrication of aqueous and flexible supercapacitor electrodes, which presents excellent electrochemical performance with maximum specific capacitance of 204 Fg⁻¹ in 1 M H₂SO₄ electrolyte and 197 Fg⁻¹ as a flexible supercapacitor. Moreover, the device displays 100% of specific capacitance retention after 25,000 subsequent charge/discharge cycles in 1 M H₂SO₄ electrolyte.