LIU Jie1，2，PAN Binfeng1，2，ZHANG Zhimin1 ，LU Xuchen1
1. State Key Laboratory of Mesoscience and Engineering， Institute of Process Engineering， Chinese Academy of Sciences， Beijing 100190， China；
2. School of Chemical Engineering， University of Chinese Academy of Sciences， Beijing 100049， China
Abstract
Objective To address the issues of limited accessible surface area and high mass transfer resistance in commercial porous carbon， it is essential to develop new methods for preparing mesoporous carbon. This study proposes a novel preparation method for mesoporous carbon and evaluates its potential as an electrode material for supercapacitors， providing valuable insights into the mechanisms of mesopore formation.
Methods The resulting mesoporous carbon was characterized using scanning electron microscopy （SEM）， transmission electron microscopy （TEM）， Raman spectroscopy， X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）， and N2 adsorption/desorption to determine its microstructure features and evaluate its application potential as a supercapacitor electrode. Its electrochemical performance was evaluated. Additionally， the preparation process was examined， and the reaction mechanism was proposed and discussed.Results and Discussion Pore structure analysis showed that the obtained mesoporous carbon had a specific surface area of 752 m2·g-1， a total pore volume of 1.22 cm3·g-1， and a pore width of 5.3 nm， making it suitable for high-performance supercapacitors with aqueous electrolytes. Raman spectroscopy revealed a 2D peak at 2 675 cm-1， with ID/IG and I2D/IG ratios of 0.7 and 0.8， respectively， confirming the presence of few-layer graphene nanosheets with a turbostratic structure. Additionally， regions of local order were observed via high-resolution TEM （HRTEM）， indicating a high degree of graphitization. When applied in supercapacitors， the mesoporous carbon had a specific capacitance of 113 F·g-1 at a current density of 50 A·g-1， and maintained an excellent capacitance retention of 76% when the current density increased from 1 A·g-1 to 50·A g-1.
Conclusion This paper proposes a novel molten salt-assisted magnesiothermic reduction method for preparing mesoporous carbon， with sodium carbonate serving as the carbon source. During the synthesis process， sodium carbonate exhibits a catalytic activation effect at a relatively low temperature （800 ℃）， enhancing the degree of graphitization of the product. Additionally， the chloride molten salts facilitate the free movement and assembly of the resulting product. The obtained mesoporous carbon exhibits a high specific surface area and pore volume， with a uniform pore size of 5.3 nm， making it suitable for aqueous electrolyte energy storage. It also features a low defect density. When applied as an electrode material for supercapacitors， the mesoporous carbon demonstrates excellent electrochemical performance at high current densities， outperforming the commercial supercapacitor-grade activated carbon YP-80F. The product’s high specific surface area and pore volume， suitable pore width， local order， and graphene structure enable rapid charge/discharge behaviour in aqueous electrolytes. Therefore， the prepared mesoporous carbon shows potential as a supercapacitor electrode， exhibiting excellent specific capacitance and capacitance retention performance.
Keywords： magnesiothermic reduction； mesoporous carbon； supercapacitor； molten salt
Get Citation: LIU Jie， PAN Binfeng， ZHANG Zhimin， et al. Preparation of mesoporous carbon via molten salt-assisted magnesiothermic reduction and its application in supercapacitors［J］. China Powder Science and Technology， 2026， 32（2）： 1-10.
DOI：10.13732/j.issn.1008-5548.2026.02.010
Received: 2025-02-26， Revised: 2025-04-11，Online: 2025-12-11。
Funding：The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 22278404)
CLC No:TB4； TQ324.8 Type Code: A
Serial No:1008-5548（2026）02-0001-10
