The performance of electric double layer capacitors using particulate porous carbons derived from PAN fiber and phenol-formaldehyde resin

摘要

Activated carbon fibers are known to contain pores with a small resistance for electrolyte migration while possessing a large electrical resistance between the fibers. A carbon powder derived from pulverization of PAN-based carbon fibers was examined as an electrode for electric double layer capacitors using H_2SO_4 as the electrolyte solution. The performance of conventional-type activated carbon powders derived from phenol-formaldehyde resin char was also measured for comparison. The fiber-derived carbon exhibited an electrical resistance comparable to that of the conventional carbons while showed a larger specific capacitance as well as a lesser extent of capacitance decrease at high currents due to a smaller pore resistance. An ultimate capacitance as high as 290 F g(-1) can be reached for this fiber-derived carbon powder (with a BET surface area of approx = 1300 m~2 g~(-1)). This large capacitance value was suggested to be associated with the high activity feature of the pore wall.