Synthesis of a Very High Specific Surface Area Active Carbon and Its Electrical Double-Layer Capacitor Properties in Organic Electrolytes

Abstract

A new porous activated carbon (AC) material with very high specific surface area (3193 m2 g−1) was prepared by the carbonization of a colloidal silica-templated melamine–formaldehyde (MF) polymer composite followed by KOH-activation. Several electrical double-layer capacitor (EDLC) cells were fabricated using this AC as the electrode material. A number of organic solvent-based electrolyte formulations were examined to optimize the EDLC performance. Both high specific discharge capacitance of 130.5 F g−1 and energy density 47.9 Wh kg−1 were achieved for the initial cycling. The long-term cycling performance was also measured.

Keywords

• electrical double-layer capacitor
• porous activated carbon
• specific surface area
• maximum operating voltage
• specific capacitance
• energy density