Abstract
We propose a facile route to fabricate carbon nanotube-activated carbon composite electrodes for supercapacitor applications. The crux of our approach lies in the use of softened pitch that becomes viscous at 110 °C and combines effortlessly with multi-walled carbon nanotubes, allowing a one-pot chemical activation at 900 °C. Meso/macroscale pores created by a bundle of the nanotubes can be infiltrated effectively by the softened pitch, increasing the apparent tap density with microporosity. This composite electrode leverages the high electron conductivity of percolated multi-walled carbon nanotubes and the large surface area of activated carbon, leading to high gravimetric (11.9 Wh/kg) and volumetric energy densities (10.4 Wh/L) at 1 mA/cm2. Our method substantially simplifies the preparation of carbon nanotube-activated carbon composite materials and can be an excellent strategy to obtain practical energy storage properties at a reduced processing cost.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 402-407 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Carbon |
Volume | 163 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 15 Aug 2020 |
Keywords
- CNT composite
- Carbon nanotubes
- Entrapped CNT
- Pitch derived activated carbon
- Porous graphitic activated carbons
- Supercapacitors