The Effect of Electrochemical and Gas Phase Activation of High Surface Area Carbon Black Ketjen Black EC 600 DJ on Its Surface Composition, Electrochemical Capacitance, and Stability

Abstract

The effect of electrochemical and gas-phase activation of high-surface-area carbon black Ketjen Black EC 600 DJ on its stability and electrochemical capacitance is studied. The electrochemical activation is carried out according to the “start–stop” protocol (1–1.5 V, 0.5 V/s). The stability of samples is assessed based on variation of their effective resistance (based on the results of cyclic voltammetry (CVA)) and electrochemical capacitance (based on CVA and galvanostatic data) with the cycle number. The changes in the texture and surface properties of activated samples are studied by the methods of nitrogen low-temperature adsorption and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The gas-phase activation of high-surface-area carbon black Ketjen Black EС 600 DJ is shown to impair its stability, while the electrochemical oxidation of carbonblack samples leads to a considerable (two-fold) increase in their electrochemical capacitance.