Nitrogen-doped porous hollow carbon spheres were fabricated via hydrothermal pre-carbonization and pyrolysis carbonization using yeast cell templates. After that, the MnO2 nanowires were deposited by the in-situ hydrothermal reaction. By controlling the reaction concentration, various MnO2 nanostructures with different morphologies and electrochemical properties were obtained. The as-prepared sample exhibited an ultrahigh specific capacitance of 255 F g-1 at a current density 1 A g-1 in 1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte. The MnO2/HCS-30 material was used as the positive electrode, and the HCS was used as the negative electrode to assemble the asymmetric supercapacitor. The maximum energy density operating at the 2.0 V voltage window is 41.4 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 500 W kg−1 and still maintains 23.0 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 7901 W kg−1. Moreover, it displayed excellent cycle stability, retained approximately 93.9% of the capacitance after 5000 cycles. This work innovatively combines biomass and energy, provides an environmentally benign strategy and new insights for the preparation of electrode materials.

Biological cell template synthesis of nitrogen-doped porous hollow carbon spheres/MnO2 composites for high-performance asymmetric supercapacitors