New Graphene Form of Nanoporous Monolith for Excellent Energy Storage

Extraordinary tubular graphene cellular material of a tetrahedrally connected covalent structure was very recently discovered as a new supermaterial with ultralight, ultrastiff, superelastic, and excellent conductive characteristics, but no high specific surface area will keep it from any next-generation energy storage applications. Herein, we prepare another new graphene monolith of mesoporous graphene-filled tubes instead of hollow tubes in the reported cellular structure. This graphene nanoporous monolith is also composed of covalently bonded carbon network possessing high specific surface area of ∼1590 m(2) g(-1) and electrical conductivity of ∼32 S cm(-1), superior to graphene aerogels and porous graphene forms self-assembled by graphene oxide. This 3D graphene monolith can support over 10 000 times its own weight, significantly superior to CNT and graphene cellular materials with a similar density. Furthermore, pseudocapacitance-active functional groups are introduced into the new nanoporous graphene monolith as an electrode material in electrochemical capacitors. Surprisingly, the electrode of 3D mesoporous graphene has a specific capacitance of 303 F g(-1) and maintains over 98% retention after 10 000 cycles, belonging to the list for the best carbon-based active materials. The macroscopic mesoporous graphene monolith suggests the great potential as an electrode for supercapacitors in energy storage areas.