Studies on preparation and performances of carbon aerogel electrodes for the application of supercapacitor

Carbon aerogel was prepared by the polycondensation of resorcinol (R) with formaldehyde (F), and sodium carbonate was added as a catalyst (C). Physical properties of carbon aerogel were characterized by infrared spectrometer (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It is found that carbon aerogel is an amorphous material with a pearly network structure, and it consists of one or two diffuse X-ray peaks. The results of cyclic voltammetry indicated that the specific capacitance of a carbon aerogel electrode in 6 M KOH electrolyte was approximately 110.06 F g(-1). Through the galvanostatic charge/discharge measurement, it was found that the electrode is stable in KOH electrolyte, the maximum capacitance of the supercapacitor with carbon aerogel as the electrode active material was 28 F g(-1). Besides, the supercapacitor has long cycle life. Thus, it was thought that the carbon aerogel is an excellent electrode material for a supercapcitor. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.