Screen-printed activated carbon/silver nanocomposite electrode material for a high performance supercapacitor

Abstract

Activated carbon has been investigated intensively during the past few decades as an electrode material for supercapacitors because of its excellent capacitive properties, especially its double layer capacitance. However, the presence of inaccessible micropores in activated carbon lower its electrochemical performance and hinders its use in industrial applications as an effective electrode material for supercapacitors. In this article, we have incorporated silver nano-powder into activated carbon through unique screen-printing fabricating method to enhance its electrochemical performance. The activated carbon/silver (AC/Ag) electrode material has shown lower contact angle of 43°, better surface energy of 63.70 mJ cm−2 and high specific capacitance of 194 F g−1 with 89% of capacitance retention after 1000 cycles. These results demonstrate that screen-printed AC/Ag electrode material is a potential candidate for high performance supercapacitor applications.