Oxygen-rich porous carbon is of great interest for energy storage applications due to its improved local electronic structures compared with unmodified porous carbon. However, a tunable method for the preparation of oxygen-rich porous carbon with a special microstructure is still worth developing. Herein, a novel modification of porous carbon with different microstructures is facilely prepared via low-temperature solvothermal and KOH activation methods that employ the coal tar and eight substances, such as cellulose as carbon source and modifier, respectively. By testing the yield, surface group structure, lattice structures, morphology, thermal weight loss, and specific capacitance of carbonaceous mesophase, cellulose–hydrochloric acid is identified as the additive for the preparation of oxygen-rich coal tar-based porous carbon. The obtained porous carbon displays a specific surface area of up to 859.49 m2 g− 1 and an average pore diameter of 2.39 nm. More importantly, the material delivers a high capacity of 275.95 F g− 1 at 0.3 A g− 1 and maintains a high capacitance of 220 F g− 1 even at 10 A g− 1. When in a neutral electrolyte, it can still retain a reversible capacity of 236.72 F g− 1 at 0.3 A g− 1 and 136.79 F g− 1 at 10 A g− 1. This work may provide insight into the design of carbon anode materials with high specific capacity.

Modification of coal tar-based porous carbon and analysis of its structure and electrochemical characteristics
    Abstract
    1 Introduction
    2 Experimental section
        2.1 Materials
        2.2 Experimental process
        2.3 Characterization
        2.4 Electrochemical performance text
    3 Results and discussion
        3.1 Effect of additives on carbonaceous mesophase yield
        3.2 Morphological analysis of porous carbon
        3.3 Thermal weight-loss analysis of CMs
        3.4 Structural characteristics of CMs and PC
        3.5 Pore structure and surface characteristics of PC
        3.6 Electrochemical behavior of PC
    4 Modification mechanism of PC
    5 Conclusion
    Acknowledgements 
    References

• Xinyuan Xu(School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Heilongjiang University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150022, China)
• Peng Wu(School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Heilongjiang University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150022, China) Corresponding author
• Chunru Zhou(School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Heilongjiang University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150022, China)
• Qiang Dou(School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Heilongjiang University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150022, China)
• Yuting Lv(School of Mines Engineering, Heilongjiang University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150022, China)