Carbide-Derived Carbon Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage

Carbide-derived carbon materials emerge from selective removal of metal atoms from carbide precursors, typically by chlorination, yielding robust carbon frameworks with controllable nanoporosity and high conductivity. The resulting structures feature adjustable pore sizes spanning ultramicropores to mesopores, enabling precise tuning of ion access and transport. High specific surface areas often exceed 2000 m²/g, underpinning exceptional capacitance in electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) and hybrid devices. Surface chemistry can be tailored through heteroatom doping or post-synthesis functionalisation to introduce pseudo-capacitance and extend voltage windows, particularly in ionic liquid electrolytes. Hierarchical pore architectures reconcile storage capacity with rapid charge–discharge kinetics. Such materials hold global significance for grid-scale energy storage, electric vehicles and portable electronics, offering sustainable solutions that leverage earth-abundant precursors. Ongoing innovations in synthesis and structural control continue to advance performance benchmarks and broaden the practical applicability of carbide-derived carbons in electrochemical energy storage.

Research from Nature Portfolio

No recent Nature Portfolio content available.

Carbide-Derived Carbon Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in carbide-derived carbon materials for electrochemical energy storage across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Carbide-derived carbon: Porous carbon produced by selective removal of metal elements from metal carbides, typically by chlorination.

Electric double-layer capacitance: Charge storage mechanism arising from electrostatic accumulation of ions at an electrode–electrolyte interface.

Pseudo-capacitance: Faradaic charge storage process involving reversible redox reactions at or near the electrode surface.

Specific surface area: Total surface area of a material per unit mass, often measured in m²/g, critical for ion adsorption.

Micropore: Pore with diameter below 2 nm, contributing to high surface area but often limiting ion transport.

Mesopore: Pore with diameter between 2 nm and 50 nm, facilitating ion diffusion and access to micropores.

Ionic liquid: Salt in liquid form at low temperatures, offering wide electrochemical stability windows for high-voltage devices.

References

1. Direct synthesis of carbide-derived carbon monoliths with hierarchical pore design by hard-templating. Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2014).
2. Nitrogen doped carbide derived carbon aerogels by chlorine etching of a SiCN aerogel. Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2016).
3. Improving control of carbide-derived carbon microstructure by immobilization of a transition-metal catalyst within the shell of carbide/carbon core–shell structures. Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology (2019).