Synthesis and electrochemical characterization of mesoporous carbons prepared by chemical activation

The pore structure and electrochemical performance of mesoporous carbons prepared by the ZnCl(2) chemical activation method as an electrode material for a supercapacitor were investigated in this work. It is found that the impregnation ratio exerts significant effect on the pore structure of the carbons, and mesoporous carbon can be obtained at a higher impregnation ratio. The cyclability of the supercapacitor is greatly improved after the carbon (electrode material) was treated at a higher temperature by using the two-stage sintering process. The grouped linear fitting method has been proposed to obtain the effective surface area and surface-specific capacitance of the carbons. The minimum pore size that can form an electric double layer is confirmed to be 2.0 nm for the porous carbon in 1 M Et(4)NBF(4)vertical bar propylene carbonate electrolyte. Porous carbon with an abundant mesopore is featured with good rate capability. (c) 2008 The Electrochemical Society.