Preparation and performances of carbon aerogel microspheres for the application of supercapacitor

• Published in: Journal of solid state electrochemistry Vol. 15; no. 4; pp. 643 - 648
• Main Authors: Wang, Xingyan, Liu, Li, Wang, Xianyou, Bai, Li, Wu, Hao, Zhang, Xiaoyan, Yi, Lanhua, Chen, Quanqi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.04.2011
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Condensed Matter Physics; Electrochemistry; Energy Storage; Physical Chemistry; Review; Inverse emulsion polymerization; Supercapacitor; Electrochemical performance; Carbon aerogel microspheres
• ISSN: 1432-8488; 1433-0768
• DOI: 10.1007/s10008-010-1142-5

Carbon aerogel (CA) microspheres were successfully synthesized by an inverse emulsion polymerization routine. Morphology and physical properties of the CA microspheres were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, N 2 sorption isotherm, and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that the CA microspheres were all fine spheres with diameters about 4 μm, and the CA microsphere was a typical mesoporous material with ordered mesoporous nano-network structure. The maximum capacitance of the electrode obtained from cyclic voltammetry was 187.08 F/g and the capacitance of the supercapacitor resulted from galvanostatic charge–discharge tests was up to 45.98 F/g. The supercapacitor using CA microsphere as electrode material presented a long cycle life, high charge–discharge efficiency, and low R s of 0.70 Ω in 6 M KOH electrolyte.