Preparation of mesoporous carbon materials used in electrochemical capacitor electrode by using natural zeolite template/maltose system

Abstract

Mesoporous carbons (NZMC) were synthesized by using single-step nanocasting in which maltose was used as carbon precursors and natural zeolite as template. Physical property characterization methods such as field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, N2 absorption/desorption, and X-ray diffraction were employed to determine the structure and crystallinity of NZMC. The results show that the materials possess a disordered lamellar structure and numerous nanopores. The specific surface area and pore volume reach up to 1076.9 m2/g and 1.46 cm3/g, respectively. Typical electrochemical measurements such as constant current charge/discharge test, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectra revealed that NZMC has excellent charge storage capability. Specific capacitance is 176 F/g in the alkaline media when the current density is 600 mA/g. The CV curve maintains a typical CV quasi-rectangular feature at a scan rate of 5–100 mV/s, which indicates that the materials perform well rate capability. The combination resistance of the carbon materials is 0.78 Ω. After 750 cycles, the specific capacitance retention value is 94.5 %, which proves that NZMC is a promising electrode material for electrochemical capacitors because of its long-term cycle stability.