Ultrafastly activated needle coke as electrode material for supercapacitors

Abstract

The uniform porous structure makes activated porous carbons (APCs) superior electrode material. Traditionally, APCs are produced by a combination of time-consuming high-temperature heat treatment and activation, with a production time of up to several hours. The produced APCs have relatively low specific surface area (SSA) and porosity. Therefore, the electrochemical performance is poor, which limits its application in high-power energy storage devices. Here, APCs materials are directly synthesized by a high temperature shock (HTS) strategy using needle coke as a precursor. The structure of as-prepared APC is characterized by XRD, SEM and Raman, and electrochemical tests confirmed its good electrochemical performance. In the two-electrode system, the supercapacitor with HTS-APC as the electrode material provides a high energy density of 35 ​Wh kg−1 and a high power density of 875 ​W ​kg−1 in EMIMBF4 ionic liquid. This work is instructive for the rapid synthesis of electrode materials, and also provides guidance for the large-scale application of porous carbon materials.