Preparation of hierarchical porous carbons from a coal tar pitch modified by fluid catalytic cracking oil for a high-performance supercapacitor

A template-free strategy was designed to prepare hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs) using fluid catalytic cracking oil modified a coal tar pitch (CTP). The resulting HPCs possess large specific surface areas, reasonable pore size distributions, and wrinkled structures, which could improve the overall electrochemical performance. They exhibit a specific capacitance value of 329 F g(-1) at 0.5 A g(-1) and still maintain 220 F g(-1) at 20 A g(-1), manifesting the remarkable rate capability. Additionally, the assembled symmetrical supercapacitor delivers a highest energy density of 23.6 Wh kg(-1) at a power density of 500 W kg(-1) and outstanding cycle stability of 92.8% capacitance retention after 10000 cycles. This work paves a new way to fabricate advanced carbon materials from low-cost CTP and provides a promising approach for value-added utilization of CTP.