Energy production and storage using nanotechnology

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Carbon-Based Supercapacitors Produced by Activation of Graphene

Published Online 12 May 2011

Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1200770

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Carbon-Based Supercapacitors Produced by Activation of Graphene
Yanwu Zhu1, Shanthi Murali1, Meryl D. Stoller1, K. J. Ganesh1, Weiwei Cai1 , Paulo J. Ferreira1, Adam Pirkle2, Robert M. Wallace2 , Katie A. Cychosz3, Matthias Thommes3, Dong Su4, Eric A. Stach4, and Rodney S. Ruoff1,*
- Author Affiliations

1Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of Texas at Austin, One University Station C2200, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
2Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W. Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75080, USA.
3Quantachrome Instruments, 1900 Corporate Drive, Boynton Beach, FL 33426, USA.
4Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA.

*?To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [e-mail]

ABSTRACT

Supercapacitors, also called ultracapacitors or electrochemical capacitors, store electrical charge on high surface area conducting materials. Their widespread use is limited by their low energy storage density and relatively high effective series resistance. Using chemical activation of exfoliated graphite oxide, we synthesized a porous carbon with a BET surface area of up to 3100 square meters per gram, a high electrical conductivity, and a low O and H content. This sp2-bonded carbon has a continuous three-dimensional network of highly curved, atom thick walls that form primarily 0.6- to 5-nm-width pores. Two-electrode supercapacitor cells constructed with this carbon yielded high values of gravimetric capacitance and energy density with organic and ionic liquid electrolytes. The processes used to make this carbon are readily scalable to industrial levels.

Received for publication 22 November 2010.
Accepted for publication 2 May 2011.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2011/05/11/science.1200770.abstract