02103nas a2200181   4500008004100000245010500041210006900146260000800215300001000223490000800233520143900241100002201680700001901702700002101721700003301742700001501775856013101790       2017                        eng d00aSignificance of optimal N-doping in mesoporous carbon framework to achieve high specific capacitance0 aSignificance of optimal Ndoping in mesoporous carbon framework t  cOCT  a40-480 v4183 aNitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon (NMC) has been synthesized by sol-gel process using a mixture of phenol and formaldehyde as source of carbon, and melamine as source of nitrogen. The Ludox-AS40 (40 wt% SiO2) is employed, for the first time, as hard template to obtain polymeric gel by prolonged heat treatment at 80 degrees C. The wt% of nitrogen is tuned by varying the weight ratio of melamine to phenol. Stable mesoporous carbon frameworks are obtained by pyrolysis of the dry gel at 800 degrees C in nitrogen atmosphere and treated with alkali to remove silica. One of the carbon framework samples has 11 wt% nitrogen doping and shows pore volume of 0.5 cm(3) g(-1) and surface area 609 m(2) g(-1). The other carbon frame work sample has 6 wt% nitrogen doping and shows higher pore volume of 1.1 cm(3) g(-1) and surface area 736 m(2) g(-1). The later sample exhibits highest electrochemical capacitance of 196 F g(-1) at 0.5 A g(-1) while the former shows only 146 F g(-1) at 0.5 A g(-1). However, both the NMC electrodes show good cyclic performance (91% of the initial capacitance after 1000 cycles) in an aqueous KOH electrolyte. This study demonstrates that there is an optimum level of nitrogen doping required to keep the meso-structure of carbon network intact, simultaneously maintaining high surface area and sufficient electrical conductivity for electrochemical applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.1 aSahoo, Malaya, K.1 aGogoi, Pranjal1 aRajeshkhanna, G.1 aChilukuri, Satyanarayana, V.1 aRao, Ranga  uhttps://library.ncl.res.in/content/significance-optimal-n-doping-mesoporous-carbon-framework-achieve-high-specific-capacitance