Chitin-Based Porous Carbon Containing Cuprous Sulfide for Supercapacitor Electrode Materials

Chitin-derived biomass carbon materials are promising supercapacitor electrode materials due to their wide availability, low cost, high specific surface area, and nitrogen doping capability. However, their practical application is limited by insufficient conductivity and cyclic stability, often requiring functional modification or integration with complementary materials. In this study, we present a novel strategy by incorporating copper sulfide (Cu₂S) into a chitin-based carbon matrix. Cu₂S, known for its high intrinsic conductivity, excellent electroactivity, and theoretical specific capacity (~335 mAh·g^-1), was uniformly doped into the three-dimensional carbon aerogel framework derived from chitin nanofibers (ChNF) through sol-gel, freeze-drying, and high-temperature carbonization processes. The resulting chitin-based carbon/Cu₂S composite aerogel (CChNF/Cu₂S) exhibited a hierarchical porous structure with Cu₂S nanoparticles (20-30 nm) uniformly distributed on the carbon fiber surface. Electrochemical tests demonstrated its excellent performance, achieving a specific capacitance of 852 F·g^-1 at 1 A·g^-1, highlighting the synergistic effects of the conductive Cu₂S and nitrogen-doped carbon framework for high-performance supercapacitor applications.