Scalable synthesis and electrochemical performance of mesoporous graphene from calcium carbonate by magnesiothermic reaction

A novel scalable synthetic method of mesoporous graphene has been developed using the compressed mixture of Mg and excess CaCO₃ in a closed container. The generated solid oxide and unreacted CaCO₃ could act as mesopore-forming agents, and the closed container could prevent the carbon dioxide from CaCO₃ flow away. As a result, the graphenes with a large number of 2–30 ?nm mesopores and high utilization ratio of Mg achieved. The graphenes had high specific surface area and excellent electrochemical performance. In particular, the Mg utilization ratio was up to 53.3% in the preparation of graphene using 2:1 CaCO₃/Mg at 700 ?°C, which is superior to previous researches. The obtained mesoporous graphene exhibited high specific surface area of 743.7 ?m² ?g^-1, large specific capacitance of 140 ?F ?g^-1, and high capacitance retention rate of 64.3%.