Nano Carbon Black Powder Synthesized via Liquid Phase Plasma Process as a Supercapacitor Active Material

Abstract

In this study, synthesized carbon black powder (SC) was obtained from benzene via a liquid phase plasma (LPP) process. This powder was then activated by KOH to obtain activated SC (A-SC). Both of SC and A-SC powders were compared with commercial carbon black powder (CCB) and activated commercial carbon black (A-CCB) via Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area analysis, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction for physical and chemical investigations. SC, A-SC, CCB and A-CCB powders were used as active materials of electrochemical double-layer capacitors (EDLC), which were studied via cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic measurements, and impedance spectroscopy. Their electrochemical performance shows that SC electrode has higher specific capacitance, capacity, and energy than CCB electrode. Non-aqueous electrolyte EDLC using A-SC electrode, especially exhibited suitable cyclic stability over 8000 cycles at various charge–discharge current densities from 250 mA g−1 to 2000 mA g−1. This study indicates that the LPP process successfully created specific nano-scaled CB particles supported by KOH activation process, which are noteworthy electrode materials for supercapacitor applications.