Solvent-free synthesis of triazine-based porous organic polymer for supercapacitor applications

Advanced electrode materials that combine large surface area, adjustable porosity, and redox activity are essential to meet the growing need for greener and efficient energy storage devices. Since, conventional carbon-based materials frequently don’t provide the redox activity and adaptability that are required for high performance supercapacitor, researchers started to use various materials as replacement. One of the remarkable options is the use of porous organic polymers (POPs) as the electrode materials for supercapacitors. There have been many POPs reported till now; however, the majority of reported synthesis required suitable organic solvents as a synthesis medium, which is often a time-consuming and potentially hazardous process. Thus, the solvent-free synthesis of POPs for supercapacitor application is important but still in its infancy. By considering these points, this research deals with solvent-free synthesis of triazine-based porous organic polymer (T-POP) with a good yield and lower reaction time, in contrast to typical synthetic methods that utilize harsh conditions. The resultant T-POP has a specific surface area of 33.91 m⁻² g⁻¹, a micro-/mesoporous architecture that is hierarchical, and a large number of nitrogen functionalities that are redox active. These characteristics allow for effective charge storage by combining pseudocapacitive and electric double-layer processes. The T-POP exhibits a high specific capacitance of 3703 μF cm⁻² at 0.01 mA cm⁻², when used as a supercapacitor electrode. In addition to presenting a solvent-free method for creating high-performance porous polymers, this study emphasises POPs’ promise as next-generation materials for effective and sustainable energy storage applications.