Nitrogen-doped graphene with in-plane porous structure was fabricated by simple co-pyrolysis of lignosulfonate and graphene oxide in the presence of urea. Lignosulfonate first performs as a dispersant adsorbed on the surface of graphene oxide to prevent the aggregation of graphene oxide sheets for preparing homogeneous nitrogen-containing precursor, and then acts as a porogen to render graphene sheets with nanopores in the pyrolysis process of the nitrogen-containing precursor. Urea was used as a nitrogen source to incorporate nitrogen atoms into graphene basal plane. The special nanoporous structure combined with nitrogen content of 7.41 at.% endows the nitrogen-doped graphene electrode material with super capacitance up to 170 F g(-1), high rate performance, and excellent cycling stability. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.