NOVEL CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS FOR APPLICATION IN THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SUPERCAPACITORS

Three types of novel carbon materials, such as KOH-activated microporous carbons, highly ordered carbons obtained by a template technique, and a special carbon/carbon composite based on carbon nanotubes with carbonized polyacrylonitrile have been used as electrodes for supercapacitors in aqueous and organic electrolytes. The various carbon materials used allow their capacitance properties to be correlated with the total surface area, micro and meso pore volume, elemental composition. Especially, the role of mesopores in charge propagation was strongly underlined. The capacitance values widely range from 100 to 300 F/g depending on the carbon microtexture but also on the heteroatom (nitrogen) content responsible for pseudocapacitance effects. Comparison of these three classes of carbon materials gives a basic knowledge for optimization of supercapacitor electrode materials depending on electrolytic solutions used.