Home – Home – Jornals – Chemistry for Sustainable Development 2023 number 5

The article reports the results of the study of the morphology, porous structure and electrical capacitance characteristics of highly porous carbon matrices (HPCMs) obtained from coal raw materials with different degrees of metamorphism and nanostructured composites (NSCs) based on them, the surface of which is decorated with gold or manganese oxide nanosized particles (NP), accumulating electrical charge during polarization in the electrolyte via two mechanisms (formation of an electrical double layer (EDL) and involvement of pseudo-capacitance component during Red-Ox reactions on electrodes). The samples of HPCMs were obtained by high-temperature (800 ^oC) alkaline activation (the mass ratio KOH/C = 2 : 1) of fossil coal from the coal basins of the Kemerovo Region and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia): CAK - based on anthracite of the Kiyzasskiy open-pit mine (Kuzbass), with the highest coalification degree; CBK - based on boghead (a kind of sapropel coal ) from the Taymylyr deposit (Yakutia) with the lowest degree of metamorphism; CDK - based on long-flame coal (Kuzbass) occupying an intermediate position in the metamorphism series. Results obtained by scanning electron microscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering in combination with sorptometry showed that the NSC morphology is largely determined (except for submicron aggregates) by the porous structure of the matrices. The shape of cyclic voltammetry (CVA) curves for HPCMs CDK, CBK and Au-NP filled NSC based on them indicated a significant contribution from EDL into capacitance; the contribution of pseudo-capacitance is observed for the composite MnO_x/CDK electrode. The features of CVA curves for microporous CAK HPCM and NSC based on it are probably caused by hindered diffusion. The specific electrical capacitance is higher as a result of the polarization of CDK and CBK HPCM with large proportions of mesopores, as well as NSCs on their basis, than that resulting from the polarization of microporous CAK and the corresponding composites. For all three HPCMs, the introduction of fillers causes an increase in the electrode capacitance. The effect is more significant for NSCs obtained from hard coals with a low level of metamorphism (an increase up to 1.8 and 1.6 times with respect to the capacitance of initial matrices for NSCs based on CDK and CBK, respectively, according to the impedance measurement data), which is due to a decrease in the active resistance and the charge transfer resistance of the cells, and, in general, to the active component of the impedance.