Hair, a high-nitrogen energetic material, is utilized as a precursor for nitrogen-doped porous carbon. The preparation procedures for obtaining carbon from hair are very simple, namely, reductant or deionized water activation process followed by hair carbonization under argon atmosphere at 800 degrees C for 2 h. The samples are characterized through scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption, and X-ray photoelectron microscopy. The carbon samples are tested as electrode materials in supercapacitors in a three-electrode system. The carbon (soaked in deionized water at 80 degrees C) presents relatively low specific surface areas (441.34 m(2) g(-1)) and shows higher capacitance (154.5 F g(-1)) compared with nitrogen-free commercial activated carbons (134.5 F g(-1)) at 5 A g(-1). The capacitance remains at 130.5 F g(-1) even when the current load is increased to 15A g(-1). The capacitance loss is only 5% in 6M KOH after 10,000 charge and discharge cycles at 5 Ag-1. It is the unique microstructure after activation processing and electroactive nitrogen functionalities that enable the carbon obtained through a simple, ecological, and economical process to be utilized as a potential electrode material for electrical double-layer capacitors. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.