Electrochemical characterization of new electric double layer capacitor with polymer hydrogel electrolyte

Abstract

A new electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) was constructed by using polymer hydrogel electrolyte prepared from crosslinked potassium poly(acrylate) and KOH aqueous solution, and its electrochemical characteristics were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and charge–discharge cycle tests, compared with a case of the cell using only a KOH aqueous solution as an electrolyte. As a result, the cell with the polymer hydrogel electrolyte was found to exhibit higher capacitance than that with the KOH aqueous solution and excellent high-rate dischargeability. The impedance spectroscopic measurements suggested that the higher capacitance could be ascribed to the pseudocapacitance. These results indicate the potential applicability of the polymer hydrogel electrolyte to EDLCs as an electrolyte with good performance.