Enhanced Performance in Supercapacitor Supported by Corn Silk-Derived Porous Carbon

N, O self-doped hierarchical porous carbon has been successfully synthesized through a facile chemical activation method using corn silk as raw material, where the texture properties of the samples can be tailored via changing the quantity of the Na 2 CO 3 activator. The optimal sample with a BET surface area of 1269.79 m 2  g −1 and a nitrogen content of 2.48 at% exhibited the highest specific capacitance of 158.2 F g −1 and 196.3 F g −1 at 1 A g −1 in basic and acidic solution, respectively. In addition, the high capacitance contributions (86.2% in basic solution and 72.6% in acidic solution at 10 mV s −1 ) imply a capacitive controlled mechanism. These results indicate that the synthesis of heteroatom-doped porous carbon from biomass can be a potential approach for developing effective materials in supercapacitors.