Quasi 2D Mesoporous Carbon Microbelts Derived from Fullerene Crystals as an Electrode Material for Electrochemical Supercapacitors

Fullerene C-60 microbelts were fabricated using the liquid-liquid interfacial precipitation method and converted into quasi 2D mesoporous carbon microbelts by heat treatment at elevated temperatures of 900 and 2000 degrees C. The carbon microbelts obtained by heat treatment of fullerene C-60 microbelts at 900 degrees C showed excellent electrochemical supercapacitive performance, exhibiting high specific capacitances ca. 360 F g(-1) (at 5 mV s(-1)) and 290 F g(-1) (at 1 A g(-1)) because of the enhanced surface area and the robust mesoporous framework structure. Additionally, the heat-treated carbon microbelt showed good rate performance, retaining 49% of capacitance at a high scan rate of 10 A The carbon belts exhibit super cyclic stability. Capacity loss was not observed even after 10 000 charge/discharge cycles. These results demonstrate that the quasi 2D mesoporous carbon microbelts derived from a pi-electron-rich carbon source, fullerene C-60 crystals, could be used as a new candidate material for electrochemical supercapacitor applications.