Preparation of mesoporous carbon materials used in electrochemical capacitor electrode by using natural zeolite template/maltose system

Mesoporous carbons (NZMC) were synthesized by using single-step nanocasting in which maltose was used as carbon precursors and natural zeolite as template. Physical property characterization methods such as field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, N₂ absorption/desorption, and X-ray diffraction were employed to determine the structure and crystallinity of NZMC. The results show that the materials possess a disordered lamellar structure and numerous nanopores. The specific surface area and pore volume reach up to 1076.9 m²/g and 1.46 cm³/g, respectively. Typical electrochemical measurements such as constant current charge/discharge test, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectra revealed that NZMC has excellent charge storage capability. Specific capacitance is 176 F/g in the alkaline media when the current density is 600 mA/g. The CV curve maintains a typical CV quasi-rectangular feature at a scan rate of 5–100 mV/s, which indicates that the materials perform well rate capability. The combination resistance of the carbon materials is 0.78 Ω. After 750 cycles, the specific capacitance retention value is 94.5 %, which proves that NZMC is a promising electrode material for electrochemical capacitors because of its long-term cycle stability.