Celosia cristata L.-like N, O co-doped hierarchical porous carbon materials for high performance supercapacitor

Supercapacitors exhibit important application value in new energy vehicles, smart grids, and wearable devices due to their high-power density, long cycle life, and wide temperature adaptability. However, the core bottleneck lies in traditional carbon-based electrode materials suffering from inefficient pore structures, surface chemical inertness, and unsustainable preparation processes. Here, we successfully constructed Celosia cristata L.-like N, O co-doped porous carbon electrode materials by simple high-temperature pyrolysis, using histidine as both the carbon precursor and self-doping source, and combining with the structure directing agent (zinc acetate) to modulate homogeneous dispersion of Zn²⁺ through coordination chemistry. The optimized carbonaceous products exhibited mesoporous network structure (specific surface area of 1145 m² g⁻¹), with a high specific capacitance of 241 F g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.1 A g⁻¹. The assembled symmetric supercapacitor demonstrates excellent electrochemical performance, maintaining 80 F g⁻¹ at a high current density of 20 A g⁻¹ and a capacity retention of 96.7 % after 40,000 cycles at 5 A g⁻¹. This strategy enables molecular-scale anchoring coordination of metal ions through precise design of biomass molecules, effectively solving the problem of pore structure damage caused by metal aggregation in traditional templating methods. It provides a universal solution for developing high-performance, low-cost, and eco-friendly supercapacitor electrode materials.