Abstract. Poly(vinylidene fluoride)-derived ultramicroporous carbon with a specific surface area of 1012 m2 g-1 and a very narrow pore-size distribution peaked at 0.55 nm is investigated as electrode material for supercapacitors. The unique microstructure features enable the carbon to present not only a high gravimetric capacitance (264 F g-1) but also a high electrode density (0.826 g cm…
Abstract. The study of 26 microporous carbons with average pore widths Lo between 0.7 and 1.8 nm shows that the volume-related capacitance Cmi (F cm−3) in the organic electrolyte (C2H5)4NBF4/acetonitrile is an inverse function of the average micropore width Lo. This means that for a given micropore volumeWo, the gravimetric capacitance C (F g−1) is larger for carbons with smaller pores …
Abstract. The space-charge distributions of electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs), which are energy storage devices, were examined with the pulsed electroacoustic (PEA) method. It was found that the experimental results could be influenced by the reflection and penetration of sound waves when the space-charge distributions of EDLCs were measured with the PEA method. This is because EDLCs …
Mesoporous carbon spheres with a bimodal pore size distribution were prepared by suspension polymerization and steam activation method using phenol–formaldehyde resins as a carbon precursor. The asprepared carbon spheres had a specific surface area of 1006 m2 g-1, total pore volume of 1.34 cm3 g-1, mesoporous ratio of 81.3% and average pore size of 5.33 nm. Moreover, the carbon material …
Abstract. Activated carbon aerogels (ACAs) with hierarchically porous structures and high specific surface area have been prepared via CO2 and KOH activation processes. The pore structures of ACAs are characterized by N2 adsorption/desorption and scanning electron microscopy. The experimental results show that the ACAs contain three types of pores: micropores with diameters below 2 nm, smal…
Abstract. Microporous carbon nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning from resole-type phenolic resin, followed by one-step activation. KOH was utilized to tune the fiber diameter and improve porous texture. By adjusting KOH content in the spinning solution, the fiber diameter could be controlled in the range of 252–666 nm and the microporous volume and specific surface area could be …
Abstract. Carbon aerogel (CA) microspheres have been successfully synthesized by an inverse emulsion polymerization and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 sorption isotherm and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that the size and pore characteristics of carbon microsphere obviously depend on stirring speed and concentration of surfactant in the emulsion polymeriz…
Abstract. A variety of amorphous manganese oxide electrode materials with uniform nonspherical hollow interiors are prepared via sacrificial template-engaged redox etching of the corresponding shape-controlled Cu2O nanocrystals in KMnO4 aqueous solution at room temperature. The obtained materials are characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron mic…
Abstract. A series of porous carbon samples as electric double layer capacitor electrode materials were prepared by a pyrolysis process using phenol formaldehyde resin (PF) as precursors and KOH/ZnCl2 as activation agents. Porous carbon samples were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, X ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms and transmission electron microscopy. …
Abstract. Carbon cryogels have been obtained by freeze-drying and pyrolysis of a family of tannin formaldehyde organic gels prepared at different pHs. Such new materials, cheap and derived from biomass at a mass fraction of 0.8, were completely characterised in terms of pore structure and density. Samples obtained at pH higher than 6 were extremely lightweight and presented surface areas highe…
Abstract. Porous carbon-based electrodes were prepared by carbonization with poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/ carbon nanotube (CNT) composites to further increase the specific capacitance for supercapacitors. The specific capacitance, pore size distribution, and surface area of the PVDF/CNT composites were measured, and the effect of the carbonization temperatures was examined. The electro…
Abstract. Hierarchical MnO2 nanoflower has been simply prepared via a hydrothermal treatment technology in a mixed solution of KMnO4 and cetyltrimethylammonium hydroxide at 90 ◦C for 12 h. The morphology and structure of the obtained material are examined by XRD, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, SAED, and N2 adsorption–desorption. The electrochemical properties are characterized by cyclic voltammetry, …
Abstract. We report a facile method for obtaining extremely high surface area and uniformly porous carbon nanofibers for supercapacitors. Blends of polyacrylonitrile and sacrificial Nafion at different compositions have been electrospun into non-woven nanofiber mats with diameters in the range of 200-400 nm. Electrospun nanofiber mats are then subjected to carbonization to obtain porous car…
Abstract. Ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) with controllable pore sizes in the range of 4–10 nm are prepared by a template procedure using 2D hexagonal MSU-H and 3D cubic KIT-6 as hard templates and boric acid as the pore expanding agent. The electrochemical performances of the as-synthesized OMCs as electrode materials for electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLCs) are characterize…
Abstract. MnO2 nanoparticles (NPs) with 1.8±0.2 nm in diameter were successfully produced using an ethylene glycolassisted synthesis with successive hydrolysis and condensation reactions. The tiny NPs were used as precursors for producing three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) electrodes using a colloidal crystal-templating method. The specific capacitances of 3DOM MnO2 electrodes dep…
Abstract. Electrochemical charge storage characteristics of vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as a function of varying diameter and spacing are reported. It was observed that the specific capacitance of the MWCNTs increased as both diameter and inter-tube spacing decreased. The MWCNT films with 230 nm inter-MWCNT spacing exhibited specific capacitance of 228 F/g versu…
Abstract. High specific surface carbon (Black Pearls 2000) has been modified by electroactive anthraquinone (AQ) groups by spontaneous reduction of the corresponding in situ generated diazonium derivative. A set of modified carbons with different AQ loadings have been synthesized to study the effect of the grafted groups on the pore texture and on the double layer capacitance of the modifi…
Abstract. N-doped carbon replicas of zeolite Y are prepared, and the effect of cation nature of zeolite (H+ or Na+) on the carbon replicas is studied. The morphology, structure and surface properties of the carbon materials are investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy …
Abstract. Walnut shell-based activated carbons (WS-ACs) were prepared by chemical activation with KOH and used as an electrode material for electrical double layer capacitors (EDLCs). The WS-AC samples were characterized before and after ball milling for 8 h to assess their electrochemical characteristics as carbon electrodes for EDLCs. Nitrogen adsorption analyses showed that the Brunauer�…
Abstract. Micro-mesoporous bimodal carbon nanospheres with high surface areas were synthesized by a combined use of surfactant templating technique and BaO2 chemical activation one. Starting spherical nanopolymer/surfactant composites were prepared by the NaOH-catalyzed reaction of resorcinol (R) and formaldehyde (F) in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a core templa…
Abstract. The capacitive behavior of activated carbons with different pore structures in two kinds of electrolytes, Bu4NBF4 and Et4NBF4 in propylene carbonate (PC) was studied using three kinds of cell configuration. The correlations between adsorbed ion size and pore size on the positive and negative electrodes were investigated. The matching of pore size and cation size was more predomina…
Abstract. A series of microporous carbons with wide scope of porosity development (surface area SDFT = 1200–2460 m2 g−1, micropore volume VDR = 0.43–1.2 cm3 g−1, average micropore width L0 = 0.9–1.5 nm) was prepared by KOH activation of coal-tar pitch derived mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB). The activated MCMB were tested as an electrode material of capacitor in two-electrode system …
Abstract. The positive and negative capacitance behaviors of heat-treated activated carbons are separately studied in a three-electrode configuration using 6 M KOH and 1 M H2SO4 as electrolytes. Heat treatment of activated carbons at 400–800 oC causes slight changes in surface area accompanied by a significant removal of oxygen-containing functional groups. Consequently, the specific sur…
Abstract. Six samples of α-MnO2 with different K ion contents are synthesized by using KMnO4 and Mn(CH3COO)2$4H2O with different pH values at room temperature. The samples are labeled as Mx where x denotes the pH value. The anomalous effect of K ion content on the electrochemical capacitance properties of amorphous MnO2 is investigated systematically. It is found that with the increase of …