High-performance electric double-layer capacitor fabricated with nanostructured carbon black-paint pigment as an electrode

Engineering the microstructure of the carbonaceous materials is a promising strategy to enhance the capacitive performance of supercapacitors. In this work, nanostructured Black Pearl (1500 BP) carbon which is a conductive carbon being commercially used in printing rolls, conductive packaging, conductive paints, etc. is analyzed for its feasibility as an electrode material for Electric Double-Layer Capacitors (EDLCs). To achieve that commercial Black Pearl (BP), carbon is treated with mild acid H3PO4 to remove the impurities and enhance the active sites by regulating the growth of agglomerates and creating micropores in the nano-pigments. Generally, the coalescence of nanoparticles owing to their intrinsic surface energy has tendency to create voids of different sizes that act like meso/micropores facilitating the diffusion of ions. The electrochemical performance of BP carbon before and after chemical activation is investigated in aqueous (H2SO4, KOH and KCl) and a non-aqueous electrolyte (1 M TEMABF4 in acetonitrile) environment employing different electrochemical techniques such as Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), Galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD) and Electrochemical Impendence Spectroscopy (EIS). The chemically activated BP carbon delivers the highest specific capacitance of ∼156 F g−1 in an aqueous electrolyte, 6 M KOH. The highest specific power, ~ 15.3 kW kg−1 and specific energy, 14.6 Wh kg−1 are obtained with a symmetric capacitor employing non-aqueous electrolyte because of its high working potential, 2.5 V.