Preparation and Electrochemical Properties of Phenolic Resin-Based Carbon Foam Doped with Ni/Co-Modified RGO

With the increasing shortage of energy reserves, the exploration of new energy sources is a growing area of research. As a widely used energy storage device, supercapacitors have attracted widespread attention from researchers. In our study, N- and B-modified phenolic foam was prepared by polymerization using phenol and paraformaldehyde as raw materials, urea and 4-formylphenylboronic acid as modifiers of nitrogen and boron, respectively, and adding foaming agent and curing agent. Modified reduced graphene oxide was synthesized by modifying reduced graphene oxide with nickel and cobalt. Finally, modified reduced graphene oxide-doped phenolic resin-based carbon foams were prepared by mixing and carbonizing the above two modified materials. The effects of mass ratio of Ni to Co, carbonization temperature, and different addition amount of activator on the structure and electrochemical properties of the obtained carbon foam materials were studied. The results show that the specific surface area of the carbonized material can reach 744 m2/g and the pore volume of the material is 0.496 cm3/g when the mass ratio of Ni metal to Co metal salt is 1:1, the mass ratio of activator to modified phenolic foam is 5, and the carbonization temperature is 800 degrees C. And its maximum specific capacitance can reach 1288 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g. When the current density is increased to 10 A/g, its specific capacitance is still maintained at 700 F/g. The electrode has a 65% capacitance retention rate after 1000 cycles. The preparation of carbon foam electrode materials based on phenolic resin provides a theoretical basis for the development of energy storage containers with low cost and high performance.