Phosphorus-doped 3D carbon nanofiber aerogels derived from bacterial-cellulose for highly-efficient capacitive deionization

Heteroatom doping is known as an effective strategy to improve the electrochemical performance of carbon materials. In this work, phosphorus (P)-doped carbon nanofiber aerogels (P-CNFA) were prepared from bacterial cellulose via freeze-drying and thermal treatment. The structure and electrochemical characterizations show that P-CNFA exhibit a porous, interconnected, well-organized 3D network structure and P doping can enhance the specific surface area, facilitate the charge transfer, and thus improve the specific capacitance and electrosorption capacity of CNFA. Especially, the electrosorption capacity of P-CNFA can reach up to a high value of 16.20 mg g⁻¹ in 1000 mg L⁻¹ NaCl solution, much higher than that of undoped CNFA (12.81 mg g⁻¹). These results indicate that P-CNFA should be a promising candidate for capacitive deionization application.