Fabrication and characterization of electrochemical double layer capacitors using ionic liquid-based gel polymer electrolyte with chemically treated activated charcoal electrodes

Abstract

The present investigation deals with electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLCs) made up of ionic liquid (IL)-based gel polymer electrolytes with chemically treated activated charcoal electrodes. The gel polymer electrolyte comprising of poly(vinylidine fluoride-co-hexafluropropylene) (PVdF-HFP)–1-ethyl-2,3-dimethyl-imidazolium-tetrafluroborate [EDiMIM][BF4]–propylene carbonate (PC)–magnesium perchlorate (Mg(ClO4)2) exhibits the highest ionic conductivity of ~8.4 × 10−3 S cm−1 at room temperature (~20 °C), showing good mechanical and dimensional stability, suitable for their application in EDLCs. Activation of charcoal was done by impregnation method using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as activating agent. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) studies reveal that the effective surface area of treated activated charcoal powder (1,515 m2 g−1) increases by more than double-fold compared to the untreated one (721 m2 g−1). Performance of EDLCs has been tested using cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy, and charge–discharge techniques. Analysis shows that chemically treated activated charcoal electrodes have almost triple times more capacitance values as compared to the untreated one.