Amino acid functionalized carbon sheet network with confinement effect for capacitive desalination and supercapacitor

Pore structure and specific surface area are important performance parameters of carbon-based capacitive materials. However, the complexity of the pores and the infiltration rate of the electrolyte can suppress the actual utilization rate of the materials specific surface area, hindering the occurrence of double-layer capacitance behavior. This work uses traditional Chinese medicine waste as raw material to obtain porous carbon materials (NC) through immersion-crystallization of activator. This preparation strategy has high universality, transforming various traditional Chinese medicines with complex original structures into high specific surface area carbon materials with unified nano structures. The internally and externally synergistic activation method generates a large number of interconnected pore structures, enhancing the spatial complexity of the material across dimensions. In order to improve the actual surface utilization and ion accessibility, amino acid functional groups (arginine) are introduced into the material interface (Arg-NC). Meanwhile, the intervention of amino acid functional groups will also inhibit side reactions such as co-ion repulsion effect and oxidative corrosion. The amino acids functional groups enhance the wettability of the pore structure and increase the actual effective specific surface area, promoting the occurrence of double-layer capacitance behavior. The pore channel structure, in turn, provides a confinement protection effect for the amino acid functional groups, mitigating the issue of fracture and detachment. By combining structural design and interface control, Arg-NC exhibits excellent capacitance performance and shows promising application potential in supercapacitors and capacitive desalination.