CARBON AEROGELS DRIED AT AMBIENT CONDITIONS

Carbon aerogels derived from organic sol gel process and supercritical drying are novel porous materials with interconnect structure and high electrical conductivity, which are considered to be ideal electrode materials for supercapacitors and rechargeable batteries. The objective of this research was to synthesize carbon aerogels with high RC ratio (molar ratio of resorcinol to catalyst) at ambient conditions. The structure of the porous carbon aerogels was investigated by SEM and the measurement of pore size distribution. The special surface area was determined with BET techniques. It was found that the carbon aerogels prepared at ambient conditions have nanometer structure and large specific surface area. Drying at ambient conditions instead of supercritical drying can reduce the preparing cost and extend the applications.