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

A new porous activated carbon (AC) material with very high specific surface area (3193 m(2) 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.