Synthesis of micro- and mesoporous carbon spheres for supercapacitor electrode

Micro- and mesoporous carbon spheres (MMCSs) are synthesized by the polymerization of colloidal silica-entrapped resorcinol/formaldehyde in the presence of ammonia as catalyst, followed by carbonization, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) etching to remove silica template, and potassium hydroxide (KOH) activation. The morphology and microstructure are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and nitrogen adsorption-desorption. The results show that a typical sample (denoted as MMCS-3) unites the characteristics of regular spherical shape (uniform diameters of 500 nm), high specific surface area (1,620 m(2) g(-1)), large pore volume (1.037 cm(3) g(-1)), and combined micropores and mesopores (11.0 nm), which endows MMCS-3 good electrochemical performance. MMCS-3 as supercapacitor electrode shows a specific capacitance of 314 F g(-1) under a current density of 0.5 A g(-1) and low internal resistance of 0.2 Omega in 6 M KOH aqueous solution. The electrochemical capacitance still retains 198 F g(-1) at a high current density of 10 A g(-1). After 500 cycle numbers of galvanostatic charge/discharge at 0.5 A g(-1), MMCS-3 electrode still remains the specific capacitance of 301 F g(-1) with the retention of 96 %. This study highlights the potential of well-designed MMCSs as electrodes for widespread supercapacitor applications.