Pseudocapacitance effects for enhancement of capacitor performance

Grzegorz Lota (1) , Elzbieta Frackowiak (2)

1 Faculty of Chemical Technology
2 Faculty of Chemical Technology

We report on the pseudo-capacitance induced by a nitrogen substituted in the carbon network composite prepared by a simple carbonization (750 0C) of formaldehyde and melamine in the presence of carbon nanotubes. Nitrogen content in the composites varied from 7.4 to 21.7 wt%. Such materials have a higher density than activated carbons, hence, they can supply better volumetric capacity. N-rich composites show an excellent charge propagation at current loads from 500 mA g-1 to 50 A g-1 because of multiwalled nanotubes which play a conducting as well as a supporting role. The electrochemical performance of various composites was investigated in two and three electrode cells using acidic (1 mol L-1 H2SO4), alkaline (6 mol L-1KOH), neutral (1 mol L-1 Na2SO4) and organic electrolytes (1 mol L-1 TEABF4 in acetonitrile). Organic and neutral medium is not adapted for N-rich carbon electrodes of supercapacitor. The detailed electrochemical characterization pointed out the differences of charge propagation of electrodes with the different polarity.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

Grzegorz Lota, Elzbieta Frackowiak. Pseudocapacitance effects for enhancement of capacitor performance. Fuel Cells, 2010, 10 (5), pp.848. ⟨10.1002/fuce.201000032⟩. ⟨hal-00553736⟩